Development of progressive tool system for ultrasonic vibration assisted microforming

Abstract. The demand for biodegradable implants is increasing as their efficiency in reducing the number of removal surgery after the healing process. However, the fabrication of magnesium miniplate by microforming is still a challenge due to its mechanical properties at room temperature and the micro-scale of the implant’s product. In this research, ultrasonic vibration is used to improve the production quality of micro-forming magnesium. The fabrication of miniplate magnesium includes micro blanking, micro punching, and micro stamping processes. The progressive system is adapted into the tool due to the constraint of design complexity. The simulation was conducted to validate the tool design and microforming process. The result of this research is a complete set of tool designs that is capable to integrate with Ultrasonic Vibration Assisted Microforming (UVAM) for producing miniplate implants with desired quality and accuracy. Furthermore, micro punching and microstamping stress decreased by around 30% when assisted with Ultrasonic Vibration.