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Microscopic Analysis of Fractured Screws Used as Implants in Bone Fixation

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Abstract

The increase of life expectancy and risk of accidents, thereby causing a higher incidence of surgeries, has led to a growing use of implants. The reliability of these implants, either for bone fracture correction or for joint replacement, thus used in applications of considerable responsibility, depends on the characteristics of the materials, as well as on the conditions of manufacture. By using some techniques, mainly optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy tests, this work has as purpose the identification of the possible causes of failure of screws used in plates for bone fixation, considering the fracture surface aspects and microstructural characteristics of the austenitic stainless steel used in their manufacture, which is essential for this application. The results obtained in this study allowed the identification of the main causes of the failure, primarily related to fatigue fracture, associated to the presence of surface cracks, generated by stress concentration, which was probably caused by grooves left by improper machining.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank FAPERJ (Funding Agency of Rio de Janeiro State for Research) and CNPq (Brazilian Council for Scientific Development) for financial support, Rafael de Abreu Vinhosa and Mauro de Melo Rodrigues for sample preparation for metallographic analysis and CENANO/INT for the SEM images and EDS spectra.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia (INT), Avenida Venezuela, 82, Sala 620, Rio de Janeiro, CEP 20.081-312, Brazil

    Cassio Barbosa, Ibrahim de Cerqueira Abud, Tatiana Silva Barros, Sheyla Santana de Carvalho & Ieda Maria Vieira Caminha

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  1. Cassio Barbosa
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  2. Ibrahim de Cerqueira Abud
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  3. Tatiana Silva Barros
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  4. Sheyla Santana de Carvalho
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  5. Ieda Maria Vieira Caminha
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Correspondence to Cassio Barbosa.

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Barbosa, C., de Cerqueira Abud, I., Barros, T.S. et al. Microscopic Analysis of Fractured Screws Used as Implants in Bone Fixation. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 14, 372–375 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-014-9811-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-014-9811-9

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