Design and Printing Parameters Effect on PLA Fused Filament Fabrication Scaffolds

Abstract

The Fused Filament Fabrication technique was used to build PLA scaffolds for bone tissue replacement. Scaffolds with 100% interconnectivity were fabricated using different printing parameters and geometry design. Two temperature values and two extrusion speeds were combined with two different layer thicknesses. The influence of these parameters upon produced scaffold morphology and compressive mechanical properties was assessed. Afterwards, two different geometries were fabricated considering only the best performing parameters, to assess the influence of the main and lateral pores dimension on scaffolds mechanical properties. Specimen morphology was analysed by scanning electron microscopy, to assess the geometrical quality of the produced parts. It was verified that the higher tested temperatures combined with the lower printing speeds increased the overall mechanical strength of produced scaffolds. Low temperatures and high printing speeds were found to limit the amount of material possible to be extruded due to viscosity issues, and introduced scaffold defects. Creating staggered scaffolds with offsets between layers, decreased the resulting scaffold mechanical performance.