Preliminary experimental testing on fatigue resistance for silicone rubbers proposed within lumbar disc prosthesis

The purpose of this work was to investigate the fatigue resistance of a silicone rubber proposed as layers placed inside the prosthetic components within the total lumbar disc prosthesis in order to improve its damping capacity. The silicone rubber samples used in this study were prepared by incorporation of high amount of silica (70% wt) in a polydimethylsiloxane-α,ω-diol of high molecular mass followed by processing in stable form of cylinders by pressing in a proper mould and vulcanization. In order to evaluate the fatigue resistance, three silicone rubber samples were subjected to forced vibration for a period of 4h at a vibration frequency of about 9 Hz. Before and after the fatigue resistance testing, the samples were tested from the free vibration response point of view. The experimental results showed that the free vibration response of the silicone rubber samples before and after the fatigue resistance testing was the same.