A. S. Mitchell, P. Shrotriya, Iowa State University, Ames, IA

Summary: Stress assisted dissolution is a common failure mechanism associated with biomedical implants. This study investigates how the stress state biases the chemical reaction of a common biomedical implant alloy. An atomic force microscope was used to apply well characterized normal loads on a specimen subjected to four point bending. The superposition of stress states and material dissolution rates were analyzed and a kinetic relationship was developed.