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In Situ Studies of Cartilage Microtribology: Roles of Speed and Contact Area

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Abstract

The progression of local cartilage surface damage toward early stage osteoarthritis (OA) likely depends on the severity of the damage and its impact on the local lubrication and stress distribution in the surrounding tissue. It is difficult to study the local responses using traditional methods; in situ microtribological methods are being pursued here as a means to elucidate the mechanical aspects of OA progression. While decades of research have been dedicated to the macrotribological properties of articular cartilage, the microscale response is unclear. An experimental study of healthy cartilage microtribology was undertaken to assess the physiological relevance of a microscale friction probe. Normal forces were on the order of 50 mN. Sliding speed varied from 0 to 5 mm/s, and two probes radii, 0.8 and 3.2 mm, were used in the study. In situ measurements of the indentation depth into the cartilage enabled calculations of contact area, effective elastic modulus, elastic and fluid normal force contributions, and the interfacial friction coefficient. This work resulted in the following findings: (1) at high sliding speed (V = 1–5 mm/s), the friction coefficient was low (μ = 0.025) and insensitive to probe radius (0.8–3.2 mm) despite the fourfold difference in the resulting contact areas; (2) the contact area was a strong function of the probe radius and sliding speed; (3) the friction coefficient was proportional to contact area when sliding speed varied from 0.05 to 5 mm/s; (4) the fluid load support was greater than 85% for all sliding conditions (0% fluid support when V = 0) and was insensitive to both probe radius and sliding speed. The findings were consistent with the adhesive theory of friction; as speed increased, increased effective hardness reduced the area of solid–solid contact which subsequently reduced the friction force. Where the severity of the sliding conditions dominates the wear and degradation of typical engineering tribomaterials, the results suggest that joint motion is actually beneficial for maintaining low matrix stresses, low contact areas, and effective lubrication for the fluid-saturated porous cartilage tissue. Further, the results demonstrated effective pressurization and lubrication beneath single asperity microscale contacts. With carefully designed experimental conditions, local friction probes can facilitate more fundamental studies of cartilage lubrication, friction and wear, and potentially add important insights into the mechanical mechanisms of OA.

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Notes

  1. There is strong evidence that fluid shear is negligible. The plowing contribution depends on the known deformation geometry and the unknown pressure distributions. Based on the deformed geometry, it can be concluded that the plowing friction component from the small probe is approximately twice that of the large probe. Because plowing increases the friction of the smaller probe disproportionately, the similar frictional responses suggest a limited contribution from plowing.

  2. Assuming 70% water, 30% matrix, the matrix stresses are estimated at 120 and 180 kPa for the 3.2 and 0.8 mm radii, respectively, during sliding; they are 340 and 440 kPa under static loading. At 5 mm/s, the hydrostatic pressures are 1.1 and 2.2 MPa for the 3.2 and 0.8 mm radii, respectively.

Abbreviations

A :

Contact area

a :

Contact area half-width

δs :

Sample indentation depth

E 0 :

Equilibrium elastic modulus

E′:

Effective elastic modulus

F e :

Elastic force component

F f :

Friction force

F n :

Normal force (measured)

F p :

Fluid pressure force component

H a :

Aggregate modulus

K :

Permeability

Pe :

Peclet number

R :

Radius of spherical contact probe

μ:

Friction coefficient

V :

Speed of cartilage reciprocation

z :

Vertical stage displacement

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Acknowledgment

The project described was supported by NIH grants (P20-RR016458 and AR054385).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    E. D. Bonnevie, V. J. Baro, L. Wang & David L. Burris

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  1. E. D. Bonnevie
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  2. V. J. Baro
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  3. L. Wang
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  4. David L. Burris
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Correspondence to David L. Burris.

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Bonnevie, E.D., Baro, V.J., Wang, L. et al. In Situ Studies of Cartilage Microtribology: Roles of Speed and Contact Area. Tribol Lett 41, 83–95 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-010-9687-0

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