The disclosure relates to a replacement member for a shoulder joint replacement comprising an attachment face on one side of the member, a concave joint surface on a side of the replacement member opposite to the side of the attachment face, and a circumferential face connecting the attachment face and the joint surface. A portion of the concave joint surface is connected to at least a portion of the circumferential face via a chamfered or rounded edge.

A method for producing a microporous material comprising the steps of: providing an ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE); providing a filler; providing a processing plasticizer; adding the filler to the UHMWPE in a mixture being in the range of from about 1:9 to about 15:1 filler to UHMWPE by weight; adding the processing plasticizer to the mixture; extruding the mixture to form a sheet from the mixture; calendering the sheet; extracting the processing plasticizer from the sheet to produce a matrix comprising UHMWPE and the filler distributed throughout the matrix; stretching the microporous material in at least one direction to a stretch ratio of at least about 1.5 to produce a stretched microporous matrix; and subsequently calendering the stretched microporous matrix to produce a microporous material which exhibits improved physical and dimensional stability properties over the stretched microporous matrix.

An ultra-high molecular weight, ultra-fine particle size polyethylene has a viscosity average molecular weight (Mv) greater than 1×10.sup.6. The polyethylene is spherical or are sphere-like particles having a mean particle size of 10-100 μm, having a standard deviation of 2-15 μm and a bulk density of 0.1-0.3 g/mL. Using the polyethylene as a basic polyethylene, a grafted polyethylene can be obtained by means of a solid-phase grafting method; and a glass fiber-reinforced polyethylene composition comprising the polyethylene and glass fibers, and a sheet or pipe prepared therefrom; a solubilized ultra-high molecular weight, ultra-fine particle size polyethylene; and a fiber and a film prepared from the solubilized ultra-high molecular weight, ultra-fine particle size polyethylene may also be obtained. The method has simple steps, is easy to control, has a relatively low cost and a high repeatability, and can realize industrialisation.

The present invention relates to a method for continuously manufacturing UHMWPE products comprising:—providing a counter-rotating twin-screw extruder;—feeding UHMWPE powder into a hopper of said counter-rotating twin-screw extruder;—transporting said UHMWPE powder from said hopper through said counter-rotating twin-screw extruder to an outlet of said counter-rotating twin-screw extruder;—further transporting said UHMWPE powder from said outlet of said counter-rotating twin-screw extruder to an entrance of a heat-controlled tooling system for defining the shape of UHMWPE products;—withdrawing said UHMWPE products from an outlet of said heat-controlled tooling system.

The present invention provides a method for preparing an ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) composite material including the following steps: providing a substrate material having medical grade ultra high molecular weight polyethylene powders, drying the substrate material to obtain fully dried UHMWPE powders, and pressing the fully dried UHMWPE powders to form a UHMWPE board; immersing the UHMWPE board into a graphene oxide solution and performing an ultrasonic induction by an ultrasonic processor such that the graphene oxide solution infiltrates into the UHMWPE substrate to obtain an ultra high molecular weight polyethylene composite material with excellent biocompatibility and tribological properties. The graphene oxide can be adsorbed and evenly spread on the surface of UHMWPE substrate by ultrasonic induction to form a lubricating film which can effectively reduce wear.

The invention relates to a process for the production of a non-fibrous drawn polymer tape, said process comprising the steps: a) compacting a polymer powder in a press to form a compacted polymer bed; b) calendering said compacted polymer bed to form an oriented polymer tape; and c) drawing said oriented polymer tape to form a highly oriented polymer tape; characterized in that step a) comprises compacting the polymer powder at a temperature and pressure such that from 0.1 to 20 wt. % of the polymer powder as measured by DSC is melted. The invention also relates to a tape obtainable by the above process, and a monolayer, multilayered material sheet and ballistic resistant article comprising such a tape.

Described is a hose and a method of manufacturing a hose. The hose comprises: an inner tube for communicating fluid; a reinforcement layer positioned over the inner tube; an intermediate cover positioned over the reinforcement layer, wherein the intermediate cover has a thickness of between 1.3 mm and 3.0 mm and comprises a material having a hardness of between 40 Shore A and 60 Shore A; and an outer cover comprising an abrasion resistant material.

Disclosed herein are exemplary embodiments of linings or liners (e.g., liners with corner reinforcement, etc.), methods of providing a liner or lining for a tank, and methods and apparatus for providing additional protection and/or reinforcement at the corners of a liner or lining. In an exemplary embodiment, a method generally includes positioning and attaching one or more corner attachments at one or more corners of a liner that are formed between the bottom and the one or more sides of the liner. The one or more corner attachments may be configured to provide additional protection and/or reinforcement at the one or more corners of the liner.

Disclosed herein are exemplary embodiments of linings or liners (e.g., liners with corner reinforcement, etc.), methods of providing a liner or lining for a tank, and methods and apparatus for providing additional protection and/or reinforcement at the corners of a liner or lining. In an exemplary embodiment, a method generally includes positioning and attaching one or more corner attachments at one or more corners of a liner that are formed between the bottom and the one or more sides of the liner. The one or more corner attachments may be configured to provide additional protection and/or reinforcement at the one or more corners of the liner.