Fabricação de próteses para articulação: um estudo comparativo entre processos convencionais e manufatura aditiva em liga de titânio

Abstract

Engineering seeks to align itself with medicine, seeking solutions to make the life of the human being increasingly comfortable, and joint prostheses that are implanted directly into the human body are an example of this partnership. So, the aim of this research is to conduct a comparative analysis between two primary manufacturing processes employed in the fabrication of joint prostheses, where analysis focuses on evaluation of surface finish roughness and mechanical properties are performed. The product chosen for analysis was a radial head prosthesis, applied in surgeries called partial elbow arthroplasty. To achieve this objective, specimens made of Ti6Al4V alloy were manufactured using both conventional machining and additive manufacturing techniques, specifically Electron Beam Melting (EBM). Following laboratory tests, tensile tests, three-point flexural tests, surface hardness measurements, and surface finish roughness verification were performed to evaluate the mechanical characteristics. The test’ results showed that both manufacturing processes yield comparable mechanical characteristics, suggesting that more specific requirements should serve as the primary parameter for selecting between them. Thus, the advantages of the additive manufacturing process over conventional machining include: reduction of removed material during the production, and places where a high level of precision is not required, additively manufactured parts can be removed near net shape. The disadvantages are: high fabrication time, high process cost and poor quality of finishing.