Abstract
Predicting the mechanical properties of the 3-D scaffold using finite element method (FEM) simulation is important to the practical application of tissue engineering. However, the porous structure of the scaffold complicates computer simulations, and calculating scaffold models at the pore level is time-consuming. In some cases, the demands of the procedure are too high for a computer to run the standard code. To address this problem, the representative volume element (RVE) theory was introduced, but studies on RVE modeling applied to the 3-D scaffold model have not been focused. In this paper, we propose an improved FEM-based RVE modeling strategy to better predict the mechanical properties of the scaffold prior to fabrication. To improve the precision of RVE modeling, we evaluated various RVE models of newly designed 3-D scaffolds using FEM simulation. The scaffolds were then constructed using microstereolithography technology, and their mechanical properties were measured for comparison.
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Abbreviations
- Y:
-
Length scale in Global coordinate system
- y:
-
Length scale in Local coordinate system
- ε:
-
Scaling parameter
- i:
-
The current structural level
- i-1:
-
The next largest macroscopic level
- [M i ]:
-
Thei-th level of the local structure matrix
- [C i ]:
-
The stiffness of thei-th structural level
- VRVE :
-
RVE (representive volume element) volume
- S1:
-
A surface of RVE model that is fixed in thez-direction
- S2:
-
A surface on which a uniform displacement is applied
- Ez :
-
Effective Young’s modulus
- As1, As2 :
-
The areas of surfaces S1 and S2
- Lz :
-
The dimension of the RVE model in thez-direction
- F:
-
Reaction force
- σR :
-
Reaction stress
- d:
-
Displacement
- λ:
-
Wavelength
- R:
-
Gaussian half-width
- f:
-
Focal length
- Wo, min :
-
Gaussian half-width at the focal point
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Cheng, LS., Kang, HW. & Cho, DW. Improvement of the representative volume element method for 3-D scaffold simulation. J Mech Sci Technol 20, 1722–1729 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02916276
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02916276