Internal Architecture Effect on the Additively Manufactured Porous Structures Elastic Properties

Testing of the Flying Vehicles Composite Structures Elements


Аuthors

Ilyina E. E.1*, Maslov L. B.1, 2**

1. Ivanovo State Power Engineering University named after V.I. Lenin,
2. Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, 29, Polytechnicheskaya str., St. Petersburg, 195251, Russia

*e-mail: tipm@ispu.ru
**e-mail: leonid-maslov@mail.ru

Abstract

This article considers physical-and-mechanical properties of the additively manufactured porous scaffolds based on triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) from the biocompatible polylactide PLA+. This study relevance stems from the need to create controlled porous structures for bone tissue replacement that could ensure mechanical support during regeneration and gradually degrade, freeing up space for a new bone.
The authors examine four types of the TPMS structures (Schwarz-P, Schwarz-D, I-WP, and Gyroid), modeled on skeletal and sheet lattices. Digital models were being developed in the nTop parametric computer-aided design system (nTopology Inc., USA) with a cell size of 4 mm and a porosity of 50 ±0.5%. Full-scale samples in the shape of the 12.7 × 12.7× 25.4 mm prisms were fabricated by the fused deposition modeling (FDM). The surface area, material volume, specific surface area, scaffold material density after printing, and effective scaffold density were being determined for the samples. Uniaxial compression tests were being conducted at a strain rate of 1 mm/min. The elastic modulus was determined from the linear portion of the stress-strain diagram. Additionally, tensile tests were performed on the solid samples to estimate the Young modulus of the base material after printing.
The obtained results demonstrated that the structure skeletal-to-sheet transition leads to the significant increase in the surface area, scaffold volume, and effective density. The elastic moduli of the sheet samples are several times higher than those of their skeletal counterparts. The experimental data comparison with a previously performed theoretical computing allowed estimating the effective Young modulus of the additive material for each structure type. The obtained values are significantly lower than the modulus of the original polylactide and highly dependent on the type of the triply periodic minimal surface area, indicating a significant effect of both printing process and internal geometry on the elastic properties. It was established that the developed scaffolds were similar in elasticity and strength properties to the trabecular bone tissue, making them suitable for the cancellous bone replacing. The I-WP structures demonstrated the highest effective elastic modulus; however, printing such samples was associated with technological challenges. The authors proposes methods for the scaffold rigidity increasing, including application of the external fixation or composites creation with hydroxyapatite.
This work practical meaning lies in the parametric development of the scaffolds with predictable morphological and mechanical characteristics, which allows the time of development reduction and pass on to the targeted synthesis of the personalized implants. The obtained data can be applied in mathematical models of the bone tissue regeneration and in biomedical practice for the artificial bone substitutes development.

Keywords:

scaffolds, threefold periodic minimal surfaces, additive technologies, compression, elastic modulus

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