Structural and Mechanical Characterization of 3D Printed Hydroxyapatite Scaffolds Designed for Biomedical Applications

Our current study concerns the structural analysis and mechanical properties under compressive loading of a new developed additive-manufactured hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffolds, designed for bone tissue engineering. Structural evaluation was performed by X-ray computed tomography (X-CT) and the compressive strength was determined by uniaxial testing method to compare the performance of the new structured material with those reported in the literature. The studied scaffolds showed a well-defined periodic structure with a well-controlled interconnected porosity which is about 32 %. The compressive strength was of 60 MPa and the Weibull modulus of 6. These values are higher than those generally obtained on porous scaffolds fabricated by other techniques with the same level of total porosity. These results demonstrate the potential use of this 3D printed scaffolds for load bearing bone tissue.