Processing of titanium-based human implant material using wire EDM

ABSTRACT

Machinability of human implant materials without causing any surface damage is a challenge on current research. The effect of heat-affected zone (HAZ), load experienced, and chemical reaction after implantation are the profound factors influencing on degradation of implant machined surface. An attempt is made to study the machinability of titanium-based human implant materials. While machining, the surface quality of the implant materials with reference to electrochemistry and metallurgical behavior of plasma energy produced are investigated in detail. Materials removal and its surface quality during plasma spark were measured as a response on machining process. The influence of pulse on/off time and the voltage varied during experimentation are evaluated using factorial design. Further, the machined samples are subjected to metallurgical characterization studies using microscopic (SEM) and spectroscopic (EDS) analysis. Increase in voltage has produced better surface finish and reduced recast layer. Contribution of pulse duration is less compared to voltage. Thus, the difficulty on machining human implants can be performed with wire electrical discharge machining process with high surface quality.

KEYWORDS:

• Surface
• roughness
• oxide
• layer
• material
• removal