The polymerization behaviour of bone cements during total hipreplacements is characterized by a fast and highly non-isothermal bulk reaction.In the first part of this paper the reaction kinetics are analysed bycalorimetric analysis in order to determine the rates of polymerization inisothermal and non-isothermal conditions. A phenomenological kinetic model,accounting for the effects of autoacceleration and vitrification, is presented.This model, integrated with an energy balance, is capable of predicting thetemperature across the prosthesis, the cement and the bone and the degree ofreaction in the cement, during in situ polymerization. The temperatureand the degree of reaction profiles are calculated, as a function of the settingtime, taking into account the system geometry, the thermal diffusivity of bone,prosthesis and cement, and the heat rate generated by the reaction according tothe kinetic model. Material properties, boundary and initial cond!itions are the input data of the heat transfer model. Kinetic and heat transfermodels are coupled and a numerical solution method is used. The model is appliedin order to study the effects of different application procedures on temperatureand degree of reaction profiles across the bone–cement–prosthesissystem.
