Authors: G D Janaki Ram C K Esplin B E Stucker
Publish Date: 2007/11/08
Volume: 19, Issue: 5, Pages: 2105-2111
Abstract
There is a growing interest in metalonmetal bearing surfaces for orthopedic implants Although some success has been achieved in applications like hip implants which involve a large contact area nonconforming joints such as knees have proved more difficult The current work examines the applicability of a novel additive manufacturing process Laser Engineered Net Shaping LENS® the registered trademark and service mark of Sandia National Laboratories and Sandia Corporation for producing CoCrMo implants A series of experiments were conducted to determine the optimum parameters for deposition of CoCrMo Microstructural studies hardness tests and dry sand/rubber wheel abrasive wear tests were conducted on the LENS® deposits The results showed that metallurgically sound deposits can be produced using the LENS® process under optimized conditions The hardness of the LENS® deposited CoCrMo was found to be comparable to that of standard CoCrMo wrought material however wear tests indicated that LENS® deposits were considerably less resistant to abrasive wear than wrought CoCrMo The reasons for this behaviour are discussed based on microstructural observations
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