MAX Highly Crosslinked Polyethylene (XLPE) for knee bearings has excellent wear resistance and includes an innovative annealing process that does not require melting.
Mechanical Anneal
During radiation crosslinking, free radicals are introduced into the material. To remove the free radicals, the material is warmed and then compressed, allowing free radicals to become mobile and combine into additional crosslinks. Just like melt-annealing, this process eliminates free radicals near the detection level.[1,2]
- Materials Characterization testing. Test report TP0322. On file with KYOCERA Medical Technologies, Inc.
- Bhattacharyya S, Matrisciano L, Spiegelberg S, Harris W, Muratoglu O. Mechanical elimination of residual free radicals in an irradiated UHMWPE rod: advantages over melting. 50th annual meeting of the orthopaedic research society. 2004:1474.