Evaluation of a design for a three-dimensional-printed artificial bone structure

In this work, artificial bones composed of hydroxyapatite (HA)/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and polylactic acid (PLA) were prepared as a potential replacement for natural bone. The cylindrical specimens included an auxetic system with artificial osteons. HA/PAN and PLA were used to fabricate composite filaments by fused deposition modeling three-dimensional (3D) printing, and the obtained filaments were applied to produce reentrant artificial bone materials. Scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the scaffold morphology and functional groups. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was used for elemental analysis. The compressive properties of the samples were studied to determine the optimal scaffolding prototype. Compressive tests were also performed to assess the behavior of the cellular structure from a mechanical perspective. Finally, ANOVA and residual plots were used to investigate the contributions of the design elements, predict the y-coordination of the stress values, and evaluate the printing orientation. The results indicated that the auxetic cells influenced the bone macrostructure, which displayed different stiffness characteristics in one working direction. Polymeric solution biomaterials based on HA/PAN and PLA biopolymers have enormous potential as high-performance liquid synthetic organic polymers for light-supported extrusion-based 3D printing. PLA/HA scaffoldings with outstanding medical conversion capability may be used as biomaterial composites for bone deficiency restoration.