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Electro chemical discharge machining (ECDM) process is gaining considerable importance in micro-machining of non-conductive and brittle materials like glass and ceramics. Recently it has undergone some innovations in the form of hybrid and variant processes, which have been reviewed and discussed in this paper. To further aid developments, an innovative hybrid process combining electrolyte-stirring and tool-rotation effect has been experimented and reported in this paper. The study was carried out in a phased manner on an in-house fabricated setup using Taguchi's orthogonal array L18. The experimental results illustrate an improvement in the process as compared to normal ECDM (without using electrolyte stirring and tool rotations). The optimum value for material removal was 1.282 mg/min and surface finish (Ra) was 0.4 μm.

For more information: http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJMMM.2020.111354

The carbonyl iron powder (CIP) reinforced polycaprolactone (CIPC) wasused to print three pre- existing stent designs such as ABBOTT BVS1.1, PALMAZ-SCHATZ, and ART18Z. The physicochemical behavior was analyzed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The radial compression test, three-point bending test and stent deployment test were carried out to analyze the mechanical behavior. The degradation behavior of the stents was investigated in static as well as dynamic environment. To investigate the hemocompatible and cytocompatible behaviors of the stents, platelet adhesion test, hemolysis test, protein adsorption, in vitro cell viability test and live/dead cell viability assay were performed. The results revealed that stents had the adequate mechanical properties to perform the necessary functions in the human coronary. The degradation studies showed slower degradation rate in the dynamic environment in comparison to static environment.In vitro biological analysis indicated that the stents represented excellent resistanceto thrombosis, hemocompatible functions as well as cytocompatible nature.

For more information: https://doi.org/10.1002/jbm.b.34795