Chapter X. Towards the Manufacturing of Near Net Shape Medical Prostheses in Polymeric Sheet by Incremental Sheet Forming

Abstract

The main objective of this chapter is to increase the existing knowledge in Incremental Sheet Forming (ISF), as a near net shape medical manufacturing process specifically for obtaining polymer of prostheses-parts, evaluating and defining the process parameters involved to improve the technology based on the analysis of quantitative outputs. This should help to provide process guidelines useful for manufacturing complex and customized parts, to be applied for example in the biomedical field. The chapter is divided into two main blocks: (i) the study of the influence of the process parameters on basic polymeric geometries manufactured by SPIF, and (ii) an analysis of some case studies of cranial implants manufactured by ISF using non-biocompatible and biocompatible polymers