Manufacturing Process Innovation Through Design of Experiment for UHMWPE Powder Consolidation Using Autoclave Processing

UHMWPE has been a material of choice for orthopedic surgeons in treating joint‐related problems since its introduction by Sir John Charnley in the 1960s. However, the high melt flow index of the material makes it difficult to process using conventional techniques of polymer processing. Thus, developing a new processing technique for UHMWPE becomes crucial for making products from the powder. Though the autoclave and vacuum bagging are normally used for thermosets, it is proposed to be used for thermoplastics like UHMWPE. The proposed method enables simultaneous adjustment and optimization of three key parameters: temperature, pressure, and dwell time to produce a defect‐free polymer sample. Response Surface Methodology was used to minimize the number of experimental conditions and develop the mathematical models between these key processing parameters. Analysis of Variance was applied to check the validity of the developed model using density as the output parameter. The density of the processed samples was found to increase with pressure due to better diffusion of the particle boundaries. The SEM images revealed the fusion process of polymer particles leading to increased density of sintered samples.