The 3D printing process offers several advantages to the medical industry by producing complex and bespoke devices that accurately reproduce customized patient geometries. Despite the recent developments that strongly enhanced the dominance of additive manufacturing (AM) techniques over conventional methods, processes need to be continually optimized and controlled to obtain implants that can fulfill all the requirements of the surgical procedure and the anatomical district of interest. The best outcomes of an implant derive from optimal compromise and balance between a good interaction with the surrounding tissue through cell attachment and reduced inflammatory response mainly caused by a weak interface with the native tissue or bacteria colonization of the implant surface. For these reasons, the chemical, morphological, and mechanical properties of a device need to be designed in order to assure the best performances considering the in vivo environment components. In particular, complex 3D geometries can be produced with high dimensional accuracy but inadequate surface properties due to the layer manufacturing process that always entails the use of post-processing techniques to improve the surface quality, increasing the lead times of the whole process despite the reduction of the supply chain. The goal of this work was to provide a comparison between Ti6Al4V samples fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) and electron beam melting (EBM) with different building directions in relation to the building plate. The results highlighted the influence of the process technique on osteoblast attachment and mineralization compared with the building orientation that showed a limited effect in promoting a proper osseointegration over a long-term period.

This paper concerns the tool wear in hard turning of AISI 52100 hardened steel by means of PCBN tools. The purposes of this work are the development of a tool wear model and its implementation in a FEM-based procedure for predicting crater and flank wear progression during machining operations for studying the influence of tool wear on the process in terms of tool geometry modifications and stress variation on the tool. The developed tool wear model, able to update the geometry of the worn tool as a function of the wear rate, has been implemented in the utilized Deform 2D FEM software. This new analytical model differs from the already proposed methods of existing research, since it concerns both crater and flank wear evaluation. The validation of the model has been achieved by the comparison between experimental and simulated wear parameters. For doing this, an extended experimental campaign has been accomplished. The comparison results have shown good agreement. Once validated, the FEM strategy has been utilized for examining the influence of tool wear on the effective rake angle and the related tool stresses, individuating the excessive positive rake angle value as the final tool breakage mechanism.

The reliability of a prosthetic implant needs durability, biocompatibility, and osseointegration capability. Accomplishing these characteristics, Ti-6Al-4V alloy is the main used material for implant fabrication. Moreover, it can be processed by additive manufacturing technique, permitting to meet the needs of patience-tailored, often complex shaped, prosthesis topologies. Once an implant is realized, it is finished by machining operations and its osseointegration capability is heavily influenced by the resulting surface roughness. Consequently, the assessment of this latter is mandatory to evaluate the prosthesis durability. This paper presents the analysis of surface roughness of Ti-6Al-4V micro-milled specimens produced by plastic deformation, selective laser melting, and electron beam melting processes. A central composite design was employed for planning the cutting tests. The comparison between surface roughness results and its values for enhancing osseointegration, firstly permitted to individuate the range of micro-milling suitable applications, which have been individuated as ball joints, bone plates, and screws. Next, the statistical analysis of the experimental measurements allowed the identification of the most influential micro-milling parameters together with the determination of the mathematical models of surface roughness by response surface methodology. The good comparison among calculated and experimental results revealed the reliability of the model, allowing the prediction of achievable surface roughness once micro-machining parameters are selected, or their optimization as a function of a desired surface roughness value.

Technological progress has led to increased demand for small components with tiny features, which cannot be achieved through conventional machining. Industrial application of processes based on microcutting is limited by some issues concerning the geometrical scale. The process performance is significantly affected by milling machine, tool holder, tool, workpiece material microstructure, workpiece fixtures, and process parameters. At present, an ultimate micromachining assessment procedure is not available. This study aims to propose and conduct an experiment on a testing procedure for micromilling. The set up to be implemented and the output to be considered are defined and described. Three major stages are identified: estimation of the effective bandwidth of the load cell–tool holder system, the milling machine natural frequency measurement, and micromilling test execution. The entire procedure is performed, and its robustness is demonstrated.