The titanium alloy Ti6Al4V — titanium with aluminium and vanadium — is the reference material for implants. Good strength, low density, behaviour accepted by the body.
At finishing, though, it imposes conditions that steel does not.
Ferrous contamination is prohibited
This is the rule that eliminates most solutions.
Titanium must not be left with ferrous particles in the surface. They compromise corrosion resistance and behaviour in the body.
Practical consequences:
- Steel abrasive is not used on titanium implants.
- An installation previously used on steel is not used without complete separation of the flows. A contaminated circuit leaves ferrous particles regardless of which abrasive you put in now.
- Media and compound are chosen for titanium, and not reused from other materials.
Separating the flows by material is not excessive caution. It is a requirement.
The surface required
On an implant, the surface is not made smooth. It is made controlled.
Osseointegration — the structural and functional bond between bone and implant — is influenced by surface topography. Bone needs a structure to attach to.
So what is sought is a roughness within a defined range, obtained reproducibly, not the finest possible surface.
Embedded particles
When titanium is blasted with hard mineral abrasives, some of the particles can become embedded in the soft surface of the metal.
This is a known aspect, controlled through the choice of medium, through the process parameters, and through the cleaning operations that follow.
The practical conclusion: the process does not end at blasting. Subsequent cleaning is part of the specification.
Where vibratory finishing fits
On instruments and on components where complete deburring and uniform edges are required, vibratory finishing covers the requirement well — including on complicated geometries, where directional methods do not reach.
The same rules apply: dedicated media, a compound suited to titanium, a separate flow.
Filtration: an ATEX-rated system is mandatory
Titanium dust is combustible. So is aluminium dust. In an ordinary dry collector, fine metal dust held in suspension, together with an ignition source, means an explosion risk.
Which is why processing titanium calls for an ATEX-rated filtration system, not an ordinary one. The same rules apply to aluminium parts.
What that involves, broadly:
- a collector built and certified for combustible dust
- explosion protection — venting or suppression, as appropriate
- ignition source control: earthing, equipotential bonding, spark-free fans
- separated flows, so dust from different metals does not end up in the same collector
It is not an accessory added later. It is sized together with the installation.
What is established before any equipment
Four things, in this order:
- The surface specification — what roughness range, measured how
- Cleanliness and traceability requirements
- Separation of flows by material
- ATEX-rated filtration
Only then is the equipment discussed. The other way round does not work.
Related reading
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