Analyses of Experimental Property Datasets for Poly (Methyl Methacrylate) Bone Cement

Poly (methyl methacrylate) bone cement (ABC) is widely used in orthopaedic surgery for applications such as fixation of total joint replacements (TJRs), augmentation of fractured vertebral bodies, and drug delivery. There is a vast amount of literature on the influence of many variables (such as cement composition and method of mixing) on a large collection of properties of ABC for use in cemented TJRs. However, very few of these literature reports include analysis of the test results obtained. The purpose of the work reported in this thesis was to perform such analysis, with respect to results for fatigue life, fatigue crack propagation (FCP) rate, creep, longitudinal elastic modulus, and viscosity. Some main findings were 1) in fatigue tests, the order of the computed value of the final parameter for the various cement brands tested was the same regardless of the analysis method used (delta method or three-parameter Weibull equation or Kaplan-Meier plot); 2) in FCP rate tests, for each of the Paris Law constants (m and log C), the distribution of the value was normal; and 3) the Burgers model provides an excellent fit to the creep strain-versus-time results. The findings may be used, for example, in the synthesis of a new generation of ABCs