The resistance of two types of thermoplastic elastomers to the near-realistic combined action of compressive and shear fatigue was assessed as part of an overall study of the biocompatibility of this class of elastomers. After fatigue the SEM of the low temperature fractured surface, the kinetics of swelling in a 3% acetic add solution, the dynamic mechanical properties (DMTA), the change in crystallinity (by FT-IR and WAXS) and the change in size of the voids (SANS) revealed subtle but small fatigue damage after cyclic loading between 150 and 1500 kPa over about 107 cycles. It may be concluded tentatively that the elastomers studied are potential candidate materials for endoprosthetic use.
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