Stress Analysis of an Artificial Human Elbow Joint: Application of Finite Element Analysis

The elbow joint is frequently affected by two kinds of arthritis (degenerative arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis) following some kind of injuries. There have been efforts since the eighteenth century by various individuals and organizations in modeling permanent implants for the elbow joint, but some of the prostheses have been disappointing because of lack of understanding of the biomechanics of the elbow joint. This paper presents investigation of the stress analysis of the fixation of artificial elbow joint into the humerus bone of the human arm. The Finite Element Analysis (FEA) technique is used to study the stress distribution. The Amira software is used to develop the humerus bone model from a Computed Tomography (CT) data set. Then, the MSC Marc Mentat software is used to create implant and cement-mantle models from geometrical entities. The Magics software is used alongside to achieve appropriate models for the analysis. The maximum principal and von Mises stresses are obtained for varying lengths of the implant at a fixed diameter and with the elbow at an angle of fixation.