The present research is the first type of study, in which the application of powder mixed electrical discharge machining (PM-EDM) for the machining of β-phase titanium (β-Ti) alloy has been proposed. β-Ti alloys are new range of titanium alloys, which has wide spread application in dental, orthopaedics, shape memory, and stents. The aim of the present study is to fabricate submicro-and nano scale topography by PMEDM process to enhance the biocompatibility without affecting machining efficiency. The effect of Si powder concentration along with pulse-current and duration on the surface and machining characteristics has been investigated. A significant decrease in surface crack density on the machined surface with 4 g/l Si powder concentration was observed. When β-Ti alloy was modified at 15 A pulse-current, longer pulse interval with 8 g/l concentration of Si powder particles, the interconnected surface porosities with pore size 200-500 nm was observed. Moreover, at Si powder concentration of 2 and 4 g/l, the recast layer thickness is 8µm and 2-3 µm, respectively. Elemental mapping analysis confirmed that PMEDM also generated carbides and oxides enriched surface, a favourable surface chemistry to enhance the biocompatibility of β-Ti alloy. Furthermore, Downloaded by [George Mason University] at 06:41 22 June 2016 2 PMEDM also enhances the machining performance by improving MRR and reducing TWR.
Among the various metallic implant materials, titanium (Ti) alloy is the best choice for the long-term hard body tissue replacements such as hip and knee joints. It has excellent mechanical, superior biological and strong anticorrosion properties. Besides the appropriate implant material, its surface topology also plays a very important role in the success of any surgery. The surface topology is supposed to be the key factor for the promotion of osseointegration. This research article focuses its attention mainly on surface modification of Ti-based alloys by electric discharge machining process. Electric discharge machining is one of the most popular nonconventional manufacturing methods. Besides machining and surface modification of implants, it finds applications in almost all areas of manufacturing industries. This article reviews the various research work done on surface modification of Ti alloy by electric discharge machining and attempts to bring out the current scenario along with future directions. The area under focus for this research review is orthopedics applications. Furthermore, a new promising advancement in the area of enhancement of electric discharge machining performance for surface modification, particularly with regard to biocompatibility and surface quality of biomaterials, has also been introduced.
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