Design and Simulation of Flow Field for Bone Tissue Engineering Sca old Based on Triply Periodic Minimal Surface

A novel method was proposed to design the structure of a bone tissue engineering scafold based on triply periodic minimal surface.In this method,reverse engineering software was used to reconstruct the surface from point cloud data.This method overcomes the limitations of commercially available software packages that prevent them from generating models with complex surfaces used for bone tissue engineering scafolds.Additionally,the fluid feld of the scafolds was simulated through a numerical method based on fnite volume and the cell proliferation performance was evaluated via an in vitro experiment.The cell proliferation and the mass flow evaluated in a bioreactor further verifed the flow feld simulated using computational fluid dynamics.The result of this study illustrates that the pressure value drops rapidly from 0.103 Pa to 0.011 Pa in the y-axis direction and the mass flow is unevenly distributed in the outlets.The mass flow in the side outlets is observed to be approximately 24.3 times higher thanthe bottom.Importantly,although the mean value of wall shear stress is signifcantly more than 0.05 Pa,there is stil a large area with a suitable shear stress below 0.05 Pa where most cells can proliferate well.The result shows that th inlet velocity 0.0075 m/s is suitable for cell proliferation in the scafold.This study provides an insight into the design analysis,and in vitro experiment of a bone tissue engineering scafold.

3D bioprinting of complex biological structures with tunable elastic modulus and porosity using freeform reversible embedding of suspended hydrogels

Three-dimensional(3D)bioprinting has been used widely for the construction of hard tissues such as bone and cartilage.However,constructing soft tissues with complex structures remains a challenge.In this study,complex structures characterized by both tunable elastic modulus and porosity were printed using freeform reversible embedding of suspended hydrogels(FRESHs)printing methods.A mixture of alginate and gelatin was used as the main functional component of the bioink.Rheological analysis showed that this bioink possesses shear thinning and shear recovery properties,supporting both cryogenic and FRESH printing methods.Potential printing capabilities and limitations of cryogenic and FRESH printing were then analyzed by printability tests.A series of complex structures were printed by FRESH printing methods which could not be realized using conventional approaches.Mechanical tests and scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that the printed structure is of excellent flexibility and could be applied in various conditions by adjusting its mechanical modulus and porosity.L929 fibroblast cells maintained cell viability in cell-laden-printed structures,and the addition of collagen further improved the hydrogels’biocompatibility.Overall,all results provided useful insight into the building of human soft tissue organ blocks.

Synergistically Toughening Effect of SiC Whiskers and Nanoparticles in Al_2O_3-based Composite Ceramic Cutting Tool Material

In recent decades, many additives with different characteristics have been applied to strengthen and toughen Al_2O_3-based ceramic cutting tool materials. Among them, SiC whiskers and SiC nanoparticles showed excellent performance in improving the material properties. While no attempts have been made to add SiC whiskers and SiC nanoparticles together into the ceramic matrix and the synergistically toughening effects of them have not been studied. An Al_2O_3-SiC_w-SiC_(np) advanced ceramic cutting tool material is fabricated by adding both one-dimensional SiC whiskers and zero-dimensional SiC nanoparticles into the Al_2O_3 matrix with an effective dispersing and mixing process. The composites with 25 vol% SiC whiskers and 25 vol% SiC nanoparticles alone are also investegated for comparison purposes. Results show that the Al_2O_3-SiC_w-SiC_(np) composite with both 20 vol% SiC whiskers and 5 vol% SiC nanoparticles additives have much improved mechanical properties. The flexural strength of Al_2O_3-SiC_w-SiC_(np) is 730±95 MPa and fracture toughness is 5.6±0.6 MPa·m^(1/2). The toughening and strengthening mechanisms of SiC whiskers and nanoparticles are studied when they are added either individually or in combination. It is indicated that when SiC whiskers and nanoparticles are added together, the grains are further refined and homogenized, so that the microstructure and fracture mode ratio is modified. The SiC nanoparticles are found helpful to enhance the toughening effects of the SiC whiskers. The proposed research helps to enrich the types of ceramic cutting tool and is benefit to expand the application range of ceramic cutting tool.

Effects of FDM-3D printing parameters on mechanical properties and microstructure of CF/PEEK and GF/PEEK

Fused deposition modeling(FDM)has unique advantages in the rapid prototyping of thermoplastics which have been developed in diverse fields.However,although great efforts have been made to optimize FDM process,the mechanical properties of printed parts are limited by the weak interlamination bonding as well as the poor performance of raw filaments used,such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene(ABS),polylactic acid(PLA).Adding fibers into thermoplastic matrix and preparing high-performance filaments have been indicated to enhance the properties of fabricated parts.Recently,heat-resistant polyetheretherketone(PEEK)and its fiber reinforced composites were proposed for FDM process due to overcoming the limitation of equipment and process.However,few researches have been reported on the effects of FDM-3 D printing parameters on the mechanical properties of fiber reinforced PEEK composites.Therefore,5 wt%carbon fiber(CF)and glass fiber(GF)reinforced PEEK composite filaments were prepared respectively in this study.The effects of various printing parameters including nozzle temperature,platform temperature,printing speed and layer thickness on the mechanical properties(including tensile strength,flexural strength and impact strength)were surveyed.To analyze the microstructure and failure reasons of printed CF/PEEK and GF/PEEK samples,the tensile fractured surfaces were investigated via scanning electron microscope(SEM).