Fracture properties of an acrylic bone cement

This study investigated experimentally the fracture properties, i.e., the fatigue strength, the resistance to crack propagation and the fracture toughness, of an acrylic bone cement (CemexĆĘ RX). The mean endurance limit was determined following the staircase method. The endurance limit was estimated at 9.2 MPa. The fatigue crack propagation rate was measured according to the ASTM E647 standard. The equation of the line fitting the crack growth per cycle (da/dN) versus the stress-intensity factor range (ŁGK), in a logˇVlog graph, was used to calculate the empirical constants of ParisˇŚ law for the selected bone cement: da/dN (m/cycle) = 3.56ˇP10ˇV7ˇPŁGK (MPaˇPm1/2)5.79. This power-law relationship described well (R2 = 0.96) the growth rate in the stable crack growth region, i.e., in the mid ŁGK range. The fracture toughness KIC of the bone cement was determined according to the ASTM E399 standard. The KIC mean value was 1.38 MPaˇPm.. These experimental results provide the set of necessary inputs for numerical studies aimed to investigate the damage accumulation process in the mantle fixing cemented prostheses.