Objective To investigate the wear mechanism of artificial hip joints and the criteria for wear life definition, analyze the causes of abnormal wear and the clinical manifestations of wear failure, establish the reasoning route of failure incidents. Methods The wear process and early factors on abnormal wear in artificial hip joints were studied through elastohydrodynamic lubrication computation and finite element analysis; the service life of artificial hip joints was determined through establishing criteria for wear life definition; the clinical manifestations of wear failure were introduced and classified through wear-osteolysis morphological matrix; the reasoning logic of failure incidents was established through clinical investigation. Results The minimal synovium thickness and contact stress between the femoral head and the acetabular cup were calculated, and the effect of relevant parameters was studied as theoretical references for wear analysis; the criteria on wear life definition of artificial hip joints were proposed, namely the mechanistic failure due to geometric change in artificial hip joints and the biological failure due to osteolysis; nine kinds of clinical manifestation for wear failure were found; the reasoning route for failure incidents was presented. Conclusions Primary wear process in artificial hip joints includes boundary and mixed friction, adhesive, ploughing and third-body wear; surface quality, fit clearance between the acetabular cup and the femoral head, and roundness have great impact on early abnormal wear; normal mechanistic life of metal-UHMWPE artificial hip joint can reach 40 years, but its maximum biological life is no more than 10-15 years, which is the constraint of prosthesis life today; the diversity of clinical manifestations for wear failure is the morphological Results of mechanical wear and osteolysis, which is helpful for the reasoning route of failure incidents.