Development of Ti-6Al-4V based-miniplate manufactured by electrical discharge machining as maxillofacial implant

Abstract

Fracture in maxillofacial region is the most commonly encountered case of trauma in oral and maxillofacial surgical field. The handling, in this case, is by fixation method using miniplate which is locked by some screws. This research aims to fabricate the Ti-6Al-4V basedminiplate prototype as maxillofacial implant product. Electrical discharge machining (EDM) was employed as a method to manufacture the prototype. In this research, ultrasonic cleaning, rotary tumbler polishing, and brushing were applied as techniques to improve the roughness of prototype manufactured by EDM. The results showed that the prototype has been successfully produced within acceptable geometric tolerance. Ultrasonic cleaning and rotary tumbler polishing provided the significant increase of the surface roughness of prototype for each 90% and 67%. On the other hand, the single cycle bend test took the better results of mechanical performances. Both K and EIe have the excellence for each 64% and 26% compared to the imported product.

Keywords: miniplate, implant, maxillofacial, Ti-6Al-4V, electrical discharge machining