Polymethylmethacrylate bone cement is used in many orthopaedic applications, including the replacement of hip joints. Fatigue in the cement is a common cause of prosthesis failure, and reinforcement using carbon or other fibres has been attempted as a means of strengthening the material. A new method of reinforcement using a woven preform of carbon or metal fibres is proposed, and shown to confer superior properties in static and fatigue tests. Flexural specimens and compression-loaded models are used in order to infer the behaviour of the actual prosthesis. The initial results reported here are encouraging and prompt more detailed investigation.
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