Bougherara, H; Mahboob, Z; Miric & M; Youssef International Journal of Engineering, (IJE) Volume (3) : Issue (3) 257 Finite Element Investigation of Hybrid and Conventional Knee Implants Habiba Bougherara habiba.bougherara@ryerson.ca Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Ryerson University Toronto, M5B 2K1, Canada Ziauddin Mahboob zmahboob@ryerson.ca Department of Aerospace Engineering Ryerson University Toronto, M5B 2K1, Canada Milan Miric mmiric@ryerson.ca Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Ryerson University Toronto, M5B 2K1, Canada Mohamad Youssef m3yousse@ryerson.ca Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Ryerson University Toronto, M5B 2K1, Canada Abstract Total Knee arthroplasty (TKA) procedures relieve arthritic pain and restore joint function by replacing the contact surfaces of the knee joint. These procedures are often performed following arthritic degeneration of the joint causing the patient pain. Cobalt-chrome, stainless steel (316L grade) and titanium alloys are widely used in the majority of distal femoral implants in TKA procedures. The use of such stiff materials causes stress shielding (i.e. a lack of mechanical stresses being experienced by the bone surrounding the implant) leading to gradual bone loss and implant failure. The aim of this paper is to develop a new hybrid knee implant which combines a polymer-composite (CF/PA-12) with an existing commercial implant system (P.F.C.® Sigma™) made from stainless steel. This hybrid implant is expected to alleviate stress shielding and bone loss by transferring much more load to the femur compared to conventional metallic implants. Results of the FEA simulations showed that the CF/PA-12 lined femoral component generated almost 63% less in peak stress compared to the regular stainless steel component, indicating more load transfer to the bone and consequently alleviating bone resorption. Keywords: Total knee arthroplasty, hybrid composite material, finite element analysis, stress shielding, 316L grade stainless steel implant, bone resorption.