Anisotropy of Mechanical Properties of Poly Lactic Acid Scaffolds Produced by Fused Deposition Modeling for Bone Tissue Engineering

Biodegradable porous scaffold polymers are good candidates for tissue engineering. In this research, a three-dimensional porous poly-lactic acid (PLA) scaffold was prepared using a Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) including about 70% porosity. The study of the phases of primary filament and scaffold using the X-ray diffraction (XRD) test shows that no significant phase difference has been created due to the manufacturing process and the polymer retains its phases properties. The results of the mechanical properties evaluation by the compression test show that the mechanical properties of the scaffold are different in both the parallel and perpendicular directions of the Z axis during the printing, and the mechanical properties of the scaffold are of anisotropic property. Microstructural study by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) also shows that the morphology of scaffold porosities is different in two directions, and this is the main cause of anisotropic mechanical properties. Anisotropy of the mechanical properties of FDM produced scaffolds should be considered during load bearing applications in vivo.