Time-dependent failure in load-bearing polymers: a potential hazard in structural applications of polylactides

With their excellent biocompatibility and relatively high mechanical strength, polylactides are attractive candidates for application in load-bearing, resorbable implants. Pre-clinical studies provided a proof of principle for polylactide cages as temporary constructs to facilitate spinal fusion, and several cages already made it to the market. However, also failures have been reported: clinical studies reported considerable amounts of subsidence with lumbar spinal fusion cages, and in an in vivo goat study, polylactide spinal cages failed after only three months of implantation, although mechanical testing had predicted sufficient strength for at least eight months. The failures appear to be related to the long-term performance of polylactides under static loading conditions, a phenomenon which is common to all glassy polymers and finds its origin in stress-activated molecular mobility leading to plastic flow. This paper reviews the mechanical properties and deformation kinetics of amorphous polylactides. Compression tests were performed with various strain rates, and static stress experiments were done to determine time-to failure. Pure PLLA appeared to have a higher yield strength than its co-polymers with d-lactide, but the kinetic behaviour of the polymers was the same: an excellent short-term strength at higher loading rates, but lifetime under static stress is rather poor. As spinal implants need to maintain mechanical integrity for a period of at least six months, this has serious implications for the clinical application of amorphous polylactides in load bearing situations. It is recommended that standards for mechanical testing of implants made of polymers be revised in order to consider this typical time-dependent behaviour

Droplet breakup mechanisms : stepwise equilibrium versus transient dispersion

In dispersive mixing of immiscible liquids the minimum attainable dropsize is often deduced from the critical value of the Capillary number (the ratio of the shear stress to the interfacial stress) necessary for drop breakup under quasiequilibrium conditions. The critical Capillary number shows a minimum if the viscosity ratio between dispersed and continuous phase is about one. Hence, it is commonly accepted that the finest morphology is obtained if both viscosities match. In practical mixing devices, however, small drops are formed by a transient mechanism of thread breakup during extension rather than by stepwise breakup under equilibrium conditions. For Newtonian liquids, a comparison is made between the dropsizes resulting from a stepwise equilibrium and a transient breakup mechanism. Generally, the transient mechanism yields smaller drops and, more interestingly, a higher viscosity ratio between the dispersed and continuous phases results in a finer morphology, as already indicated by Tjahjadi and Ottino (1991). In the present paper the comparison is elaborated over a broad range of the relevant parameters while a compact illustrative presentation of the results is given to stress the possible consequences for practical blend morphologies

Constructieve mogelijkheden ter verhoging van de smeltcapaciteit : het smeltproces in de enkelschroefextruder

A simplified theoretical model of the melting process, based on T admor' s analysis of the Maddock mechanism, is used to investigate the possibilities to increase the melting capacity of an extruder. Some screw constructions are discussed. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the best way to improved performance is to increase the heat flux to the melting front, which in turn is best achieved by increasing the dissipative heat generation in the melt film. This may be realized in a new type of melting element, the melttorpedo, of which the working is explained. Preliminary tests indicate that this element provides good possibilities to improve efficiency of single screw extruders