Date Available

12-7-2011

Year of Publication

2007

Document Type

Thesis

College

Engineering

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Marwan Khraisheh

Abstract

In the present work superplastic forming (SPF) is used as part of a process to create medical implants out of titanium. SPF is a forming process which offers many advantages over conventional forming processes. It allows for greater complexity in shape as well as the ability to work with difficult to form metals such as titanium which is a key metal in the biomedical field. SPF has been used extensively in the aerospace and automobile industry, however in recent years it has been shown to be a viable means in creating medical implants. The current process involves manipulating CT scans in order to create templates using rapid prototyping. These templates are then used to generate SPF molds out of investment material. Three different parts based on anatomical regions referenced from a model skull have been formed successfully. The parts formed are shown to be very accurate when compared against the skull model.

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