TY - JOUR
T1 - Height-to-Diameter Ratio and Porosity Strongly Influence Bulk Compressive Mechanical Properties of 3D-Printed Polymer Scaffolds
AU - Contreras Raggio, José I.
AU - Arancibia, Carlos Toro
AU - Millán, Carola
AU - Ploeg, Heidi Lynn
AU - Aiyangar, Ameet
AU - Vivanco, Juan F.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.
PY - 2022/11
Y1 - 2022/11
N2 - Although the architectural design parameters of 3D-printed polymer-based scaffolds—porosity, height-to-diameter (H/D) ratio and pore size—are significant determinants of their mechanical integrity, their impact has not been explicitly discussed when reporting bulk mechanical properties. Controlled architectures were designed by systematically varying porosity (30–75%, H/D ratio (0.5–2.0) and pore size (0.25–1.0 mm) and fabricated using fused filament fabrication technique. The influence of the three parameters on compressive mechanical properties—apparent elastic modulus Eapp, bulk yield stress σy and yield strain εy—were investigated through a multiple linear regression analysis. H/D ratio and porosity exhibited strong influence on the mechanical behavior, resulting in variations in mean Eapp of 60% and 95%, respectively. σy was comparatively less sensitive to H/D ratio over the range investigated in this study, with 15% variation in mean values. In contrast, porosity resulted in almost 100% variation in mean σy values. Pore size was not a significant factor for mechanical behavior, although it is a critical factor in the biological behavior of the scaffolds. Quantifying the influence of porosity, H/D ratio and pore size on bench-top tested bulk mechanical properties can help optimize the development of bone scaffolds from a biomechanical perspective.
AB - Although the architectural design parameters of 3D-printed polymer-based scaffolds—porosity, height-to-diameter (H/D) ratio and pore size—are significant determinants of their mechanical integrity, their impact has not been explicitly discussed when reporting bulk mechanical properties. Controlled architectures were designed by systematically varying porosity (30–75%, H/D ratio (0.5–2.0) and pore size (0.25–1.0 mm) and fabricated using fused filament fabrication technique. The influence of the three parameters on compressive mechanical properties—apparent elastic modulus Eapp, bulk yield stress σy and yield strain εy—were investigated through a multiple linear regression analysis. H/D ratio and porosity exhibited strong influence on the mechanical behavior, resulting in variations in mean Eapp of 60% and 95%, respectively. σy was comparatively less sensitive to H/D ratio over the range investigated in this study, with 15% variation in mean values. In contrast, porosity resulted in almost 100% variation in mean σy values. Pore size was not a significant factor for mechanical behavior, although it is a critical factor in the biological behavior of the scaffolds. Quantifying the influence of porosity, H/D ratio and pore size on bench-top tested bulk mechanical properties can help optimize the development of bone scaffolds from a biomechanical perspective.
KW - 3D printing
KW - height:diameter ratio
KW - mechanical properties
KW - polymer scaffolds
KW - pore size
KW - porosity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85142422358&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/polym14225017
DO - 10.3390/polym14225017
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85142422358
SN - 2073-4360
VL - 14
JO - Polymers
JF - Polymers
IS - 22
M1 - 5017
ER -