An investigation has been performed to develop a nonlinear finire element method for the analysis of the long-term behavior of an artificial hip joint. The three dimensional multi-layered brick element is used to analyze the design performances of hip prodtheses with various materials and the thick laminated composite hip prostheses with various layup sequences. The used element can accommodate the varying material properties of the element and allow the ply-drop-off along the eleement edge. The nonlinear finite element analysis program has been verified by the comparison with the exact solution of the bean problem subjected to uniaxial loading. By using the program, the density changes and strength ratios of artificial hip joint are calculated according to the hip prosthesis materials and the layers of composite hip prosthesis. The numerical results are easily applied to evaluate design performances of a hip prosthesis, and decrease the difficulty and time of hip prosthesis design.