  Contact mechanics models that can accurately estimate the contact conditions
and, consequently predict wear must be developed for hip implants. This study
analyses and verifies the existing Hertz and Fang analytical models applicable
to hard-on-hard hip implants. The contact parameters, such as the maximum
contact pressure, contact radius and the maximum deformation, are considered
for the validation with FEM. Both analytical models fail to predict the contact
conditions throughout a gait cycle. A novel data-driven ANN model is developed
to comprehensively predict the contact conditions considering different input
parameters. The analysis shows that cup thickness significantly affects the
output contact conditions. Therefore, it is recommended to consider cup
thickness in the analytical model interpretation for hard-on-hard hip implants.
