Understanding the tribological behaviour of articular cartilage enables the development of effective replacement biomaterials. This study presents a technique for the investigation of the frictional torque of articular cartilage, for the assessment of replacement biomaterials. A calcium alginate hydrogel was used as the biomaterial for this study. Three different specimen types were examined to include articular cartilage, calcium alginate hydrogel, alone, and in combination with articular cartilage. An axial load, varying from 10 to 100 N, was applied to the specimen and the frictional torque measured whilst an indenter underwent axial rotation from 0° to 2° to 0° for 100 cycles. The resulting frictional torque magnitude was evaluated with a smooth curve fitting function. Linear regression identified a statistically significant relationship between torque magnitude and axial load (p < 0.05) for all specimen variations. From 10 to 100 N of applied load, mean torque magnitude ranged from 0.08±0.010 to 0.11±0.013 N m, 0.08±0.012 to 0.09±0.016 N m and 0.07±0.017 to 0.09±0.020 N m (mean ± standard deviation), for articular cartilage, calcium alginate separately and in combination with articular cartilage, respectively. This study has established a suitable frictional torque testing protocol for potential cartilage replacement biomaterials.

了解关节软骨的摩擦学行为有助于开发有效的替代生物材料。本研究提出了一种研究关节软骨摩擦扭矩的技术，用于评估替代生物材料。海藻酸钙水凝胶用作本研究的生物材料。检查了三种不同的标本类型，包括关节软骨、海藻酸钙水凝胶单独和与关节软骨组合。将 10 到 100 N 的轴向载荷施加到试样上，测量摩擦扭矩，同时压头从 0° 到 2° 再到 0° 轴向旋转 100 次。用平滑曲线拟合函数评估所得摩擦扭矩大小。p < 0.05) 对于所有样本变化。从 10 到 100 N 的应用负载，平均扭矩大小范围从 0.08±0.010 到 0.11±0.013 N m、0.08±0.012 到 0.09±0.016 N m 和 0.07±0.017 到 0.09±0.020 N m，平均标准偏差为±0.020 N m对于关节软骨，海藻酸钙分别与关节软骨结合使用。本研究为潜在的软骨替代生物材料建立了合适的摩擦扭矩测试方案。