A study of the bone machining process-orthogonal cutting.

Abstract There appears to be no record of any orthogonal cutting analysis of bone in the literature, although many surgical procedures using cutting tools are performed every day. This paper describes a series of two-component cutting dynamometer experiments at constant speed using bovine bone as the workpiece for an orthogonal cutting analysis. The bone samples were taken from the mid-diaphysis of bovine tibiae and were cut in three mutually perpendicular directions; across, parallel and transverse to the preferred osteon direction. Microscopic and SEM photographs are presented detailing the five different chip types categorized by the authors. Precutting (i.e. plastic deformation) studies were conducted and a theory for precutting behavior based on hydroxyapatite crystallite interlocking is postulated. The Merchant analysis of orthogonal cutting is shown to have limited applicability to bone material.