Material removal mechanism of bone with laser-assisted grinding for low-damage and high-efficiency process

Bone grinding often causes excessive force and thermal damage due to the heterogeneous nature of bone tissue. To reduce mechanical and thermal loads in conventional bone grinding (CBG), this study proposes a laser-assisted bone grinding (LABG) method using laser ablation as surface pretreatment. A two-dimensional thermal model was established to predict ablation depth and the thermally affected layer. Constant-depth scratch tests and comparative grinding experiments were conducted to investigate surface integrity and material removal behavior. Results showed that the laser-induced groove structure reduced the tool–workpiece contact area, decreasing the average grinding force by 69.35% while maintaining temperatures below the 50 °C biological threshold. The laser-pretreated layer promoted brittle-dominated removal, where thermal microcracks interacted with grinding-induced cracks to facilitate fracture-based material removal. The proposed LABG method provides an effective approach for low-damage and high-efficiency bone machining in orthopedic applications.