Implications of Volumetric Porosity-Based Interpretation of Mechanical Properties Associated to Structures with Constant Engineered Porosity

Abstract

It is known that bulk porosity of structures is negatively correlated to their mechanical properties (e.g., Young’s moduli). But, in reference to bone tissue engineering (BTE), favorable bulk porosity levels are also known. Thus, in reference to design porous structures as scaffolds, bulk porosity is not much of much use. Therefore, to the design the porous lattice structures as scaffolds to assist in BTE, it is required to quantify the effect of secondary architectural features (like shape of pores) on mechanical properties through a general robust mathematical framework. With the help of micromechanics and available scaling laws, this work reports the following findings. In the form of general mixture rule (GMR), we have a computationally validated unified general framework to map the change in Young’s moduli (stiffness) of porous lattice structures with change in shape of pores at given bulk porosity levels. GMR may be useful to guide the design of porous lattice structures as scaffolds with desired stiffness to minimize the phenomena of stress shielding and thus may provide assistance in bone tissue engineering.