Fabrication of stepped hole on zirconia bioceramics by ultrasonic machining

Zirconia (ZrO2) is a highly biocompatible ceramic material providing fracture strength properties that allow application as dental implants in biomedical engineering. In this present research, experimental analysis has been made for generating stepped hole on zirconia bioceramics with desired quality using ultrasonic machining (USM) process. Four independent controllable input process parameters are abrasive grain diameter, power rating, concentration of abrasive slurry, and tool feed rate. Material removal rate (MRR), overcut of larger diameter (OLD) hole, and overcut of smaller diameter (OSD) hole of stepped hole are considered as the responses. Response surface methodology (RSM) is used for modeling the performance of USM process. Multiobjective optimization has been performed to maximize the MRR and minimize the OLD hole and OSD hole of stepped holes. All the responses are improved at the optimal parametric condition and verified by confirmation test. The present research opens up the application feasibility of USM process for stepped hole generation on bioceramics and its utilization in biomedical field.