|
Projects
Partnership - Industrial End User - Contract
|
1.
Rapid Prototyping for Medical Implants
|
1.
Ref. Number
|
98018
|
2.Acronym
|
RPIMP
|
|
3.
Full Title
|
Developing
and integration of Rapid Prototyping Technology for manufacturing and
adjusting of the surgery prosthesis
|
|
4.
Theme(s)
|
2.
Processes issues. Technology innovation in manufacturing processes.
Methods that can quickly produce different products through "Rapid
Prototyping Methods".
|
|
5.
Keywords
|
rapid
prototyping, CAD/CAM, stress-strain analysis, alloys, ceramics, wear
resistant coatings, biocompatibility.
|
|
6.
Description
|
|
Objectives of
the proposal and industrial relevance.
The Rapid Prototyping technology (RPT) that is developing actively
during the last years allows to build individual 3D parts directly from
CAD drafts. The engineering practice is searches now new ways for
applications of this technology in different fields.
The Project is aimed on application of RPT to production of parts
for medicine applications. There is supposed to solve a complex of
problems tied with direct fabrication of high performance metallic or
composite metallic—ceramic main parts of orthopedic implants with
individual shapes. The Project will allow realistic assessments of
problems and benefits of RPT combination with other material treatment
technologies, and to define optimal materials, hardware and software for
Rapid Prototyping Systems producing surgery implants.
In the framework of the Project there is supposed to solve two problems important for orthopedics and RPT:
1.
Adjusting
of endoprosthesis shape to anatomy parameters of the patient. It is solved
today only by selection of one of several standard types that are made
serially by casting or forging. In case of discordance of geometry
parameters of the implant and bone the problem occurs during operation (manual
adjusting by surgeon) or during exploitation. This leads to reduction of
surgeon productivity and, what is worth, to revision surgery (about 10 %
of primary one). Moreover, the RPT allows to build the implants with
improved (comparing to existing ones) behavior in bone (biocompatibility,
mechanical properties).
2.
Existing
RPT do not allow to manufacture high strength metallic or composite parts
up to present time. The solution of this problem will give strong impact
for RPT applications in various industry branches.
The ideal solution could be development of system allowing to
design and produce implants directly in hospitals specialized on
orthopedic surgery. The RP direct fabrication technology that uses
stereolitography or selective laser sintering perfectly satisfies this
demand as a clean and high automated technology.
There are all necessary conditions for successful fulfillment of
the Project.
1.
The partial problems of design of 3D shapes of implants and
modeling of their behavior under exploitation loads are mainly solved on
basis of 3D Finite Elements (FE) analysis. The control of RP systems from
CAD applications is already realized in serial RP equipment. On this basis
there will be developed a software — a design tool for surgeon-engineer.
2.
There are developed several methods of direct manufacturing of 3D
parts such as stereolitography and laser sintering of different materials
including polymers, metals, sand (moulds for casting). The most
prospective for the Project aims seem the following technologies:
·
laser
sintering and clading of ceramic and metal parts;
·
stereolitography
of cellular metal parts;
·
laser
sintering of moulds for metal casting.
Up to present time the first two technologies have serious
limitations tied with material science problems that do not allow to
produce high strength parts. These problems will be solved in the
framework of present project due to cooperation of partners possessing
unique experience in this field and preliminary results of research works.
Approach to and
overview of planned work.
There will be decided
a number of design,
material science, and technological problems.
Design
problems:
-
Development of principles for 3D simulation (visualization) of
multicomponent, assembled or monolith implants (for
example, coxofemoral articular) and orthesis on basis of the X-ray,
NMR, US tomography of pathological and normal articulars.
-
Prediction of mechanical properties of prosthesis, simulation of kinetic
and dynamic biomechanics of implants under exploitation using CAD software
and Finite elements methods.
-
Virtual adaptation of standard prosthesis for positioning in skeleton in
accordance to data of previous tasks;
-
Estimation of elements for standard prosthesis adjusting by RPT.
Material
science problems:
-
Development of a data bank on mechanical and physico-chemical properties
of bone tissues and materials for implantation (based on experiments and
literature);
-
Analysis of a biological compatibility of materials suited for implants
manufacturing by Rapid Prototyping technology;
-
Analysis of mutual compatibility of implants materials in biological
environment;
-
Determination of the materials assemblies for creation of prostheses of
various man's skeleton bones.
Technology
problems:
-
Optimization of Rapid Prototyping technology for acceleration of implants
manufacturing;
-
Combination of Rapid Prototyping, wear resistant anti-friction coating,
and other material treatment technologies.
Research
activities
The Project will be realized trough completion of the following
Work Packages:
Work package 1.Development
of the CAD application software that allows to build the implant 3D shape
basing on tomography data, and to control the RP equipment for direct
production of the implant. This software should allow manipulation with 3D
images of bones and joints as well as standard prostheses to adjust the
latter to anatomy of the patient or to build the new ones basing on
patient's anatomy data by various direct RP technologies.
Work package 2.Development
of materials with good technological properties that are suitable for
production of biologically inert prostheses. There will be investigated
the following classes of materials:
metals: stainless steels,
cobalt-chrome alloys, powder mixtures for liquid phase sintering;
ceramics: based on aluminum and
zirconium oxides, hydroxiapatites;
composite metallic/ceramic
materials containing Al2O3, TiC, ZrN, SiO2,
WC;
photocurable resins filled by
ceramic or metal powders including Zr, SiN, W, Mo, Ta
Work package 3.Optimization
of RP technology and its combination with other material treatment
technologies for prostheses manufacturing:
- development of measures for implants manufacturing acceleration;
- application of multilayer thin film coatings for production of
joint bearing surfaces with high wear resistance.
- experiments on laser sintering of metal powders that are prospective for
implants production.
Work package 4.
Unification of materials and RPT for direct manufacturing of implants and
ortheses in accordance to regional safety and environment standards.
Work package 5.
Verifying of prostheses service under exploitation conditions:
-
wear tests of artificial joints and biocompatibility;
- determination of corrosion resistance of materials and their
combinations used in
the prostheses »in .vivo» and »in vitro»
- determination of mechanical properties of details produced by RPT.
-
establishing of quality control techniques (mainly non-destructive) for
details
produced by RPT.
Project management. B-P-E International Dr. Hornig GmbH as an Inter-Regional Project
coordinator, a Project Steering Committee and Sub-committees for each work
package will provide strategic management, technical management and
administrative support functions. B-P-E International Dr. Hornig GmbH is
the European regional coordinator.
Duration
of the project — 36
months.
Partners.
The
following table lists the partners presently involved in this project.
Many of them have considerable experience in participating in
international and European R&D projects. Discussions are ongoing with
other suitable industrial end-users and it is expected that several of
these will join the project prior to the final submission.
|
2.
Hardcoating for cutting tools
“DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE
TECHNOLOGY OF SELF-ORGANIZING WEAR RESISTANT MATERIALS FOR CUTTING TOOLS
PRODUCTION” (SOWEREMAT)
INTAS Reference Number: Open
97-0181
Start - 01 December 1998, end - 30 November 2000, duration – 24 months.
Co-ordinator of the project:
Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang HORNIG, B-P-E International Dr. Hornig GmbH, R&D
department, Germany, Foehrenstrasse 51, D-90542 Eckental. Tel: +499126 299197.
Fax: +499126 299198. E-mail: wo.ho@t‑online.de
In the project there were developed
the scientific and technological principles for design of new class of low cost
wear resistant cutting tool materials, i.e. materials that improve operating
properties on the various stages of wear. Among different friction joints the
cutting tools are operating in extremely unfavourable conditions: high contact
stresses, high dynamic and impact loads, high temperatures. So the increase of
its wear resistance is an important scientific and technological problem.
The multi-scale
investigation of the novel tool materials wear surface at different stages of
cutting has allowed to understand the physical nature of their excellent
exploitation properties.
There was developed the
physical-chemical concept of self-organisation phenomenon in poly-phase tool
materials and hard coatings as a theoretical basis for elaboration of new class
of wear resistant materials. The main distinction of such materials from
traditional ones is their active adaptation to external physical affects. Phase
and structure transformations of carbonitrides (tribooxidation) with formation
of dynamically stable amorphous oxygen-containing layers that protect
effectively the contact surfaces of tools are developing in these materials
during cutting. The certain oxide phases possess the following good thermal and
friction properties: high strength and plasticity together with low thermal
conductivity and friction coefficients.
In project the physico-chemical
phenomena in wear zone will be investigated using all modern techniques of
surface analysis (AES, XPS, SIMS, EELFS, SEM etc.)
Two new classes of adaptable cutting
tool material were investigated in the project:
1. engineered hard coatings applied by
plasma vacuum deposition technology with ion
implanting gradient layers basing on HSS;
2. deformed compound powder (DCPM)
based on high speed steels with adds of several carbides and nitrides,
influencing on the self-organisation processes under wear.
The improving the high speed steel (HSS) T15
type included double step surface hardening: by diffusion saturation with
nitrogen (ion nitriding of HSS in the glowing discharge) and by applying a
wear-resistant coating with complexly alloyed nitrides (TiCr)N using the cathode
arc plasma deposition process (CAPDP). The coating included an additional
modified sublayer applied while ion-doping the surface of the HSS. There was
investigated the effect on the tool life of 16 chemical elements implanted into
the base surface. The multilayered coating makes it possible to significantly
– by a factor of 2.1 – 2.4 – increase the wear resistance of a cutting
tool by extending the range of normal wear.
There
was determined that HSS-based powder (DCPM) tool materials on base T15 steel
additionally alloyed by 20% TiC and 2% BN feature an abnormally high wear
resistance and could placed into a new class of self-organising tool materials.
The tool life of developed kinds of composite powder materials was
prolonged in 10 times comparing to usual HSS with simultaneous metalworking
intensification from 2 to 4 times. The new adaptable tools have wear resistance
comparable with Coronite (Sandvik Coromant) and a cost 3 times lower.
3. Software assisted steel
production
Summary
The main objective of the
Project is development of the software that allows to predict the modification
of steels structure and exploitation properties depending on the steel chemical
composition, chosen technological process of rolling and heat treatment, to
select optimal treatment parameters. A wide range of various heat treatment
technologies will be considered, including induction heating, laser and electron
beam hardening.
The
program to be developed is aimed for a wide range of application fields: material
science, technology, education (metallurgy, machine building, heat treatment
equipment). The software can be applied in scientific research institutes as
a scientific tool for computer experiments on optimisation of a new steel
composition and heat treatment parameters. The results of the project will allow
to eliminate or sharply reduce the number
of real technological experiments, and to accelerate on this basis the
process of selection of proper steel composition and/or heat treatment
technology.
The proposed software will
be based on the theoretical models of non-equilibrium physico-chemical and
structural transformations in steels
at different modes of heat treatment. The
software will be supported by the extended data base including information
on materials structure and properties, specification of technological equipment
to be used for heat treatment, specification of analytical methods and equipment
for materials examination, etc. The modern methods of results presentation,
including 3D virtual images, will be applied.
The main fields of the
software integration in manufacturing are the following:
·
Optimisation
of heat treatment parameters
of technological cycle on the stage of technology
development. This feature will allow to increase stability of exploitation
properties (and as a results 20-30 % decrease
of the rejected products).
·
Implementation
of the software as a scientific tool (computer experiment).
·
Implementation
of the software as a visual study aid as well as a scientific
training tool for education of high
school students specialising in metallurgy, for engineering and technical staff training.
It
is supposed that the main effects of this software implementation are the following:
·
Reduction
of time (in 1,5-2 times) and resources (in 3-4 times) for
determination of the main technology parameters: type of treatment, hardening
temperature, heating time, correct choice of medium to be used for hardening,
the best parameters that could be reached for each type of steel (maximum
hardness and strength, minimum residual stresses, plasticity, etc.).
·
Implementation
of this software will allow to formulate
new technical demands
for modern heat treatment equipment and as a result
to
decrease sufficiently (in about 5 times) the total number of smelting, rolling
and hardening cycles. The proposed software will take into account the
complicated shape of steel parts to be hardened in order to decrease
sufficiently the number of rejected parts (rejection caused by part deformation,
tempering, friability, etc.) and to provide high level of quality assurance.
·
The application of the
software as a part of technology control system increase
quality of heat treated steel parts and decrease
production cost.
The
present project will provide innovative means for implementation of information technologies in
industry, reduction of production cost
and environment pollution and
strengthening the Community's and NIS scientific and technological basis.
4. Thermal properties of electronic equipment
Summary of objectives and justification
Controlled
thermal design of electronic equipment is currently a very important area of
electronic design. This is because the dissipated power densities of modern
electronic chips have now reached such a high level that advanced heat transfer
systems are needed. However there currently exists very little standardised
information about the thermal properties of various electronic components and
materials, or the test methods for verifying these thermal properties.
With
the new standardised specifications, models and test methods the users and
designers of electronic equipment could get better, compatible and more
realistic description of the thermal behaviour of electronic equipment. Design
time reduction and better accuracy can be achieved by using more effective and
harmonized thermal models and specifications of electronic components and of
heat conducting materials.
5.
Design and Characterization of
Polymer Nanocomposites for
Electronic Materials Applications
OBJECTIVES:
6. Human sustainability applied to the survival of a
moon colony
The goal of the proposed study is to define a baseline of
production for survival – a locally self-sufficient production complex.
Any production capacity in excess of the baseline that may be achieved
can be viewed as “luxury”, or available for increasing the standard of
living(or giving investors return on capital).
This baseline self-sufficiency production will serve the twofold purpose;
1.
To make a preliminary definition of an isolated society on the lunar
surface – a true “city of tomorrow”.
2.
To define a baseline of self-sufficiency and full recycling for a
small community. This baseline may
be used in assessing environmentally friendly societies in Europe, but will also
be crucial in planning the first off-Earth settlements.
7.
Investigation of electrnic structure of the P-doped Si and SiO :Si
quantum dots by LMTO, AES, XPS and HREELS methods
Please look this datasheet
8. Business Intelligence Organisation for Collective
Learning and
Exchange
by Agrofood Networking
BIO-CLEAN
will provide the means by which organisation and companies of all sizes can
operate effectively in production of an educational
support in charge of facilitating the transfer of experience from
BIO-CLEAN to operators involved in the contamination control process.
The
roadmap will give us a
strategic vision by taking current thinking within Europe and identify the
challenges ahead within the medium term (3 to 5 years), for further
developpments in contamination control domain for agro-food industry.
Companies, organisation, technical
centres, laboratories up to final consumers will benefit from an Internet
portal with a wide variety of information sources on contamination
control, selected, edited and filtered to be relevent to the agro-food industry.
This action will contribute to improve networking
of existing centres of excellence
in Europe and creation of vitual centres through the use of new interactive
communication tools.
Spreading four technical manuals during info-days for example, related to
best practices and advices for SMEs which plan to improve their contamination
control processes. Especially, CRITT BNC will provide these documents to all
members of the centre of excellence in controlled environment created in 2000 in
Normandy.
Regions of southern and eastern
Europe, where a massive development of agro-food industry exists, will be of
particular interest. BIO-CLEAN will provide the means for developers in these
regions to exploit the products, services and expertise of European suppliers
BIO-CLEAN
will contribute to reinforce network of experts and organisations especially
those set-up in the new project "Partners for life" and which will
provide SMEs in the agro-food industry with information on major economic and
technical trends.
In
order to contribute to EU RTD policy and to the dissemination of S&T results,
we will expect to identify four technological projects for each partner. These
projects will match the CRAFT procedure and will be focused on the Key
Technologies described before.
These
projects will benefit to other Accompanying Measures which provide assistance to
SMEs in preparation and writing of EU RTD proposals.
Therefore,
the set up of a business intelligence scheme will improve the transfer of
know-how from leading sectors to regional small businesses, support
technological research in related field, train people in the new concepts of
contamination control and create a network of SMEs capable of accessing
international markets.
back
