Experimental investigations and finite element simulation of cutting heat in vibrational and conventional drilling of cortical bone

Heat generated during bone drilling could cause irreversible thermal damage, which can lead to bone necrosis or even osteomyelitis. In this study, vibrational drilling was applied to fresh bovine bones to investigate the cutting heat in comparison with conventional drilling through experimental investigation and finite element analysis (FEA). The influence of vibrational frequency and amplitude on cutting heat generation and conduction were studied. The experimental results showed that, compared with the conventional drilling, vibrational drilling could significantly reduce the cutting temperature in drilling of cortical bone (P < 0.05): the cutting temperature tended to decrease with increasing vibrational frequency and amplitude. The FEA results also showed that the vibrational amplitude holds a significant effect on the cutting heat conduction.