Alireza Chamani Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250 Hitesh P. Mehta Food and Drug Administration, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Division of Chemistry and Materials Science, Silver Spring, MD 20993 Martin K. McDermott Food and Drug Administration, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Division of Chemistry and Materials Science, Silver Spring, MD 20993 Manel Djeffal Food and Drug Administration, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Division of Chemistry and Materials Science, Silver Spring, MD 20993 Gaurav Nayyar Food and Drug Administration, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Division of Chemistry and Materials Science, Silver Spring, MD 20993 Dinesh V. Patwardhan Food and Drug Administration, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Division of Chemistry and Materials Science, Silver Spring, MD 20993 Anilchandra Attaluri Radiation Oncology & Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205 L. D. Timmie Topoleski Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250 Liang Zhu 1 Associate Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250 e-mail: zliang@umbc.edu Theoretical Simulation of Temperature Elevations in a Joint Wear Simulator During Rotations The objective of this study is to develop a theoretical model to simulate temperature fields in a joint simulator for various bearing conditions using finite element analyses. The fric- tional heat generation rate at the interface between a moving pin and a stationary base is modeled as a boundary heat source. Both the heat source and the pin are rotating on the base. We are able to conduct a theoretical study to show the feasibility of using the COM- SOL software package to simulate heat transfer in a domain with moving components and a moving boundary source term. The finite element model for temperature changes agrees in general trends with experimental data. Heat conduction occurs primarily in the highly conductive base component, and high temperature elevation is confined to the vicinity of the interface in the pin. Thirty rotations of a polyethylene pin on a cobalt-chrome base for 60 s generate more than 2.26  C in the temperature elevation from its initial temperature of 25  C at the interface in a baseline model with a rotation frequency of 0.5 Hz. A higher heat generation rate is the direct result of a faster rotation frequency associated with in- tensity of exercise, and it results in doubling the temperature elevations when the fre- quency is increased by100%. Temperature elevations of more than 7.5  C occur at the interface when the friction force is tripled from that in the baseline model. The theoretical modeling approach developed in this study can be used in the future to test different mate- rials, different material compositions, and different heat generation rates at the interface under various body and environmental conditions. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4026158] Keywords: bioheat transfer, joint simulator, temperature elevations, simulation Introduction Total joint replacement has relieved millions of arthritic patients of constant pain and decreased function, dramatically improving their lives, and remains the most effective treatment for arthritis. The most common bearing couple used for total joint replacements is ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) polymer (as the tibial component of an artificial knee, or the acetabular/pelvic component of an artificial hip), 1 Corresponding author. Contributed by the Bioengineering Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICAL ENGINEERING. Manuscript received August 30, 2013; final manuscript received November 25, 2013; accepted manuscript posted December 5, 2013; published online February 5, 2014. Editor: Victor H. Barocas. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering FEBRUARY 2014, Vol. 136 / 021027-1 Copyright V C 2014 by ASME Downloaded From: http://mechanicaldesign.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 04/14/2014 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms