Investigations on the machining of sintered titanium foams utilizing face milling and peripheral grinding

Titanium foams are regarded as potent materials for biomedical applications such as bone implants, and are, if possible, manufactured close to their final shape by sintering processes. There are cases, however, in which it is necessary to generate the final shape by machining, and problems resulting from the porous structure and the material characteristics become critical. In this article, two important methods of machining, i.e. face milling and peripheral grinding, are investigated for their applicability to Ti foams, and their scope and limitations are discussed.