Comparative Analysis of Fatigue Strength and Life of Vascular Stents under Various Deformation Behaviors

The deformation of arterial stents in lower limbs during limb movement is the main cause of fracture failure. At present, it has been revealed in most studies that the fatigue strength and life of stents are closely related to the deformation behavior and structure of stents. In this study, the FEM was used to simulate the deformation behavior of three typical lower limb arterial stents under pulsating load, axial tension, axial compression, bending, and torsion. The association of deformation behavior with the fatigue strength and life of stents was analyzed based on the fatigue strain theory and fracture mechanics. In addition, a new life prediction method of the stent is proposed based on the fitting method of the fatigue life curve of high cycle fatigue materials. The prediction method can provide a new solution for the evaluation of the fracture failure of the stent. These findings are expected to lay a referential foundation for the evaluation of stent fracture failure and provide guidance for the clinical application and selection of stents.