Quantitative evaluation on mechanical characterization of Ti6Al4V porous scaffold designed based on Weaire-Phelan structure via experimental and numerical analysis methods

Abstracts This study introduced a lattice Weaire-Phelan (LWP) structure to the Ti6Al4V (TC4) porous scaffold manufactured by selective laser melting (SLM) technology with sizes of 10 × 10 × 10 mm and porosities from 61.6% to 69.4%. The developed biomaterials were evaluated on the aspects of microstructure, mechanical properties and energy absorption capacity. The built scaffolds exhibited anisotropic microstructure dominated by acicular α′ phase and columnar β grains. Design requirements of the cellular biomaterial for bone repair were proposed in terms of mechanical performance. Also, design space and adequate relative density range were developed to achieve the quantitative evaluation on load bearing capacity of porous structures. A quasi-static finite element model (FEM) was established to simulate the mechanical behaviors of elastic-plastic, plateau stress and material densification during compression tests. Overall, our developed TC4 biomaterial was proved to be exhibited excellent mechanical performance combined with relatively low elastic modulus and high yield strength for human bone substitution, as well as the superior energy absorption capacity to other reported energy absorption materials.