Abstract

Total knee replacements are an effective surgical treatment to restore the function of the knee. For an adequate design, knowledge about stresses and lubrication conditions is vital. Part II proposes a fully-coupled transient 3D model for the soft elastohydrodynamically lubricated contact based upon the generalized Reynolds equation and Finite Element Method while Part I of this study focused on experimental observations. Within the scope of this contribution, a numerical model is presented and validated with experimental data. Good agreement between model predictions and experimental data was found. A strong influence of fluid and geometry assumptions and transient effects were found. Besides, it was demonstrated that the rheological synovial fluid properties have a decisive role in the tribological behavior.