Metallurgical Engineering

Metallurgical Engineering

Improving the sharpness index of the surgical blade using Zirconium-based bulk amorphous alloy

Document Type : Research Paper

Author
Associate professor, Advanced Materials and renewable energy department, Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology(IROST), Tehran, Iran.
Abstract

The sharpness of the edges of surgical incision blades is very important to control the cutting efficiency. The desired property depends mainly on the geometry of the blade and its material. Sharpness means faster cutting and higher quality. According to the principles of fracture mechanics, the blade sharpness index was introduced and after melting and alloying under vacuum and casting of amorphous alloys ‌‌‌‌‌ (Zr55Cu30Al10Ni5) 100-XNbX (X = 0,,2) in that atmosphere, grinding operation for sharpness was performed and the Its sharpness index  was compared to a commercial sample of stainless steel. The present study showed that under the same conditions of blade geometry, the mentioned bulk amorphous alloys can increase the blade sharpness by up to 57% compared to commercial stainless steel blades
Keywords

 [1] P.H. Tsai, Y.Z. Lin, J.B. Li, S.R. Jian, J.S.C. Jang, C.Li, J.P. Chu, J.C. Huang, “Sharpness improvement of surgical blade by means of ZrCuAlAgSi metallic glass and metallic glass thin film coating”, Intermetallics 31 (2012) 127-131
[2] H.F. Li, Y.F. Zheng, “Recent advances in bulk metallic glasses for biomedical applications”, Acta Biomaterialia, 36 (2016) 1–20
[3] Y Yokoyama, E Mund, A Inoue, and L Schultz, “Production of Zr55Cu30Ni5Al10 glassy alloy rod of 30 mm in diameter by a cap-cast technique”, Mater. Trans., 48 (2007) 3190–3192.
[4] Mingwei Chen, “A brief overview of bulk metallic glasses” ,NPG Asia Mater., 3, (2011) 82–90
[5] Liu, L., et al., “The effect of high temperature plastic deformation on the thermal stability and microstructure of Zr55Cu30Ni5Al10 bulk metallic glass”, Materials Science and Engineering: A, 449–451 (2007) 949-953.
[6]  Zhang, Q.S., et al., Compressive fracture of Zr55Al10Ni5Cu30 bulk amorphous alloy at high temperatures. Materials Science and Engineering A, 360 (2003) p. 280-284.
[7] Alex J. Krejcie, Shiv G. Kapoor, Richard E. DeVor, “A hybrid process for manufacturing surgical-grade knife blade cutting edges from bulk metallic glass”, Journal of Manufacturing Processes 14 (2012) 26–34
[8] C.T. McCarthy, A. NíAnnaidh, M.D. Gilchrist, “On the sharpness of straight edge blades in cutting soft solids: Part II –Analysis of blade geometry”, Engineering Fracture Mechanics 77 (2010) 437–451
[9] C.T. McCarthy, M. Hussey, M.D. Gilchrist, “On the sharpness of straight edge blades in cutting soft solids: Part I – indentation experiments”, Engineering Fracture Mechanics 74 (2007) 2205–2224

  • Receive Date 18 January 2021
  • Revise Date 19 April 2022
  • Accept Date 19 April 2022