Force and thickness prediction with FEA of the cranial implants manufactured through SPIF

Abstract

Single point incremental forming is a process which is primarily used for prototyping, small series production and unique parts. This procedure shows a high potential in the development of complex shape parts where the time of the execution does not play an important role. Among the applications of this process are the execution of various medical prostheses, such as: knee prostheses and cranial implants. The aim of this paper is to determine the forces which take place during the manufacture process of an cranial implant, as well as the thinning of the material through the help of finite element analysis. After the numerical simulation, from the results obtained it is possible to observe the behaviour of the material at different forces which appear during the deformation process. In addition, in this paper will be presented considerations about the thinning of the material used for the cranial implant.