Journal Article

An integrated analysis of thermal response and surface integrity of bone drilling with zirconia drills

Ghani, Saiful Anwar Che, Addepalli, Phanindra, Thitiyanaporn, Chaiyakorn, Sawangsri, Worapong

2026

Overview

Bone drilling is an important process in orthopaedic and dental surgery, where excessive heat and poor surface integrity can lead to thermal osteonecrosis and loss of implant stability. Thermal response and post-drilling surface roughness are frequently examined independently, even though their interdependence remains poorly understood despite extensive analysis of their individual characteristics. This study combines an experimental investigation of maximum temperature ( T max ) and surface roughness ( Ra & Rz ) during drilling under the same conditions. A full factorial design was adopted with SS316L and ZrO 2 drill bits of 2.5, 3.0, and 3.5 mm diameter, a feed rate of 30–50 mm/min, and a spindle speed of 900–1300 rpm. The findings demonstrate that the spindle speed is the most important factor affecting T max and surface roughness. SS316L exercises produced increased temperatures ( T max of 61 °C) and roughness ( Ra of 17 μm), often higher than the 47 °C thermal limit. By comparison, ZrO 2 drills had lower T max (< 42.5 °C) and were more uniform in surface quality. The Pearson correlation analysis showed that T max and Ra had a moderate, diameter-dependent correlation with SS316L, whereas weaker correlations were observed with ZrO 2 . The results indicate that combined thermo-surface testing is important and suggest that ZrO2 drills perform better under controlled experimental conditions. Graphical Abstract

• Publisher: Springer International Publishing,Springer Nature B.V,Springer
• Subject: Bone drilling / Bones / Civil Engineering / Comparative analysis / Correlation analysis / Deformation / Drill bits / Drill material / Drilling / Drills / Electrical Engineering / Engineering / Factorial design / Feed rate / Friction / Geometry / Heat conductivity / Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering / Integrity / Materials Engineering / Mechanical Engineering / Orthopedics / Osteonecrosis / Stainless steel / Stainless steel drill / Surface properties / Surface roughness / Surface roughness (Ra, Rz) / Temperature / Thermal osteonecrosis / Thermal response / Zirconia drill / Zirconium dioxide