Performances Analysis of Titanium Prostheses Manufactured by Superplastic Forming and Incremental Forming

Titanium and its alloys are widely used in cranioplasty because they are biocompatible with excellent mechanical properties andfavor the osseointegration with the bone. However, when Titanium alloys have to be worked several problems occurred from amanufacturing point of view: the standard procedure for obtaining Titanium prostheses is represented by the machiningprocesses, which result time and cost consuming. The aim of this research consist to introduce alternative flexible sheet formingprocesses, i.e. Super Plastic Forming (SPF) and Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF), for the manufacturing of patientorientedtitanium prostheses. The research activities have already highlighted the potentiality of the investigated formingprocesses that can be alternatively used taking into account both the damage morphology and the need of urgency operation. Inthe present work, the way of manufacturing the Ti prostheses by SPF and SPIF is described. A comparative analysis has beenperformed, thus highlighting the peculiarities of the investigated processes and the prostheses feasibility.