Assessment of the Run-Out of an Intervertebral Cervical Cage Fabricated by Additive Manufacturing Using Electron Beam Melting

Abstract Lattice structures made by means of Additive Manufacturing are more and more used in several fields of application. In particular, reticular Titanium alloy bodies are used in biomechanics as fusion devices, due to their biocompatibility and lightweight characteristics. Although these structures have been extensively investigated, it is currently not possible to predict their behavior easily. Indeed, due to the high number of degrees of freedom of the lattice structures, it is usually required to conduct extensive experimental campaigns in order to anticipate the mechanical behavior of complex components. The present study proposes a method to predict the run-out in an intervertebral cervical cage based on experimental tests conducted on a similar cage and using Finite Element simulations. The cages were made of Ti-6Al-4V ELI by means of Electron Beam Melting. The experimental tests were carried out in accordance with the appropriate ASTM standards. The numerical simulations were consistent with the experimental results and showed a very good agreement. This methodology helped to identify the most critical issues and to verify a new cage without a second test campaign, which allows both cost and time savings.