Artificial joints are either manufactured from high alloy stainless steel or ceramic. Steel balls are machined with conventional vitrified silicon carbide grinding wheels, while their ceramic counterparts are ground exclusively with diamond tools.
Thanks to decades of experience in dealing with the finest grains, and particularly with silicon carbide, Atlantic is able to offer a suitable tool for each material. Depending on the level of surface finish and accuracy required, the joint balls are ground in multi-stage processes and provided with various finishes ranging from "rough" machining with grit size 240, up to the final station using grit size 1200 (or finer). Tool specifications are provided for the various requirements, which ensure the necessary stock removal rate, create the best surface finishes and generate a particularly long tool life.
Customer benefits in terms of finishing artificial joints
- Fine grain silicon carbide in a vitrified bond, with various degrees of hardness for all applicable grinding and finishing operations.
- Customised solutions for optimum quality of the ball joints, thereby ensuring they last longer and spare the patient unnecessary surgery.