Temperature rise by viscous dissipation effect on synovial fluid induced by oscillating motion in artificial hip joint

A distinctive case study on the temperature rise, induced exclusively by viscous dissipation effect, due to the oscillating motion on a specific composition of synovial fluid within a clearance alike to an artificial hip joint, is investigated numerically for the first time, using the Ansys Fluent software. The joint clearance is modelled as concentric quarter hemispheres filled with a specific synovial fluid. The oscillating frequency considers the normal human walking speed and insulated thermal boundary conditions applied to surfaces that signifies the maximum viscous dissipation effect. Second order implicit time scheme is selected to achieve better result accuracy and ensure the unconditionally stable condition. The result shows that the viscous dissipation effect contributes to a maximum rise of 2.8° Celsius in temperature at the 1-h time mark, which is seen to lie within the in-vivo and in-vitro experiments reported in the literature. It is advocated that the viscous dissipation effect in the synovial fluid should be included in artificial hip joint model studies.