Papers by Author: Won Seon Seo

Abstract: Adhesion characteristics of base-coated single crystal brackets for orthodontics were investigated to evaluate the feasibility for the ceramic bracket applications. Sapphire single crystal ingot were machined, abraded and spray-coated with slurries containing 50 wt% of flux and 40µm, 80µm and 150µm of granules. Maximum adhesion to the base surface of the brackets was observed when the size of granule in the slurries was 80µm. It may be due to higher bonding area of adhesive to granule and to base as a result of interlocking structure which has moderate thickness and uniform distribution of granules. The one-way analysis of variance indicated that there were not significant differences in bond strength measurements between the once and twice coating condition in 80µm and 150µm granule groups. But ARI values exhibited large differences between once and twice coating groups and showed different median or ranges. Adhesive remnant of adhesive resin was minimized when the slurry of 80µm granule was coated once. Reduction in adhesive remnant is likely due to the higher bonding of adhesive resin to granules. No teeth and bracket damages were found in any teeth de-bonded by shear force. The base-coated brackets with higher strength (12.9 MPa) and no adhesive remnant were newly proposed for the orthodontics applications.

Abstract: The sliding wear of four different compositions of novel low temperature degradation-free zirconia/alumina (LTD-free Z/A) composites were characterized in a ceramicceramic point contact pair. The wear tests were performed by a pin-on-disk type wear tester in a linear reciprocal sliding motion with a point contact in both dry and bovine serum lubricated conditions at room temperature. For the dry sliding wear tests, AZ-2 (20 vol% (Y,Nb,Ce)-TZP/ 80 vol% Al2O3) showed the best wear resistance among four kinds of LTD-free Z/A composites. For the bovine serum lubricated sliding wear tests, wear was too little to be measured for all kinds of Z/A composites. These novel LTD-free Z/A composites having excellent wear resistance demonstrated a potential as the alternative materials for the ceramic- ceramic contact pairs of femoral head and acetabular liner in total hip replacement.

Abstract: The sliding wear behaviors of three different compositions of novel low temperature degradation-free zirconia/alumina (LTD-free Z/A) composites were examined in a ceramicceramic contact pair. The wear tests were performed by using a pin-on-disk type wear tester in a linear reciprocal sliding motion with a line contact in both dry and bovine serum lubricated conditions at room temperature. From the results of dry sliding wear tests, Z/A#1 ((5.3Y,4.6Nb)-TZP/80 vol% Al2O3) showed the best wear resistance among three kinds of LTD-free Z/A composites. For the bovine serum lubricated sliding wear tests, wear was too little to be measured for all kinds of Z/A composites. These novel LTD-free Z/A composites having excellent wear resistance demonstrated a potential as the alternative materials for the ceramicceramic contact pairs of femoral head and acetabular liner in total hip replacement.

Abstract: The sliding wear behavior of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) was examined on a novel low temperature degradation-free zirconia/alumina composite material and on the conventional ceramics (alumina and zirconia) used for a femoral head in total hip joint replacement. The wear of UHMWPE pins against these ceramic disks was evaluated by performing linear reciprocal sliding and repeat pass rotational sliding tests for one million cycles in a bovine serum. The weight loss of polyethylene against the novel low temperature degradation-free zirconia/alumina composite disks was much less than conventional ceramics for all tests. The mean weight loss of the polyethylene pins was more in the linear reciprocal sliding test than in the repeat pass rotational sliding test for all kinds of disk materials. Neither the coherent transfer film nor the surface damage was observed on the surface of the novel zirconia/alumina composite disks during the test. In conclusion, the novel zirconia/alumina composite leads the least wear of polyethylene among the tested ceramics and demonstrates the potential as the alternative materials for femoral head in total hip joint replacement.

Abstract: The sliding wear behavior of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) was examined on four different compositions of novel low temperature degradation-free zirconia/alumina (Z/A) composite material used for a femoral head in total hip joint replacement. The wear of UHMWPE pins against these Z/A composite disks were evaluated by performing the linear reciprocal sliding and repeat pass rotational sliding tests for one million cycles in a bovine serum. The novel low temperature degradation (LTD)-free tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (TZP)/alumina composite (90(5.3Y, 4.6Nb)-TZP/10Al2O3) induced the less wear amount of UHMWPE than the other Z/A composites. Linear reciprocal motion wore more the UHMWPE pin than did repeat pass rotational motion for all disk materials. It was observed that few transfer film on the sliding track of Z/A composite disks and the matching contact surfaces of pins had relatively less scratch. Getting rid of transfer film, there is no change of surface roughness on the sliding track of Z/A composite disks. This novel Z/A composite (90(5.3Y, 4.6Nb)-TZP/10 Al2O3) demonstrates the potential as an alternative material for the femoral head in total hip replacement.