The suitability of a scaffold for tissue engineering is determined by a number of interrelated factors. The biomaterial should be biocompatible and cell instructive, with a porosity and pore interconnectivity that facilitates cellular migration and the transport of nutrients and waste products into and out of the scaffolds. For the engineering of load bearing tissues, the scaffold may also be required to possess specific mechanical properties and/or ensure the transfer of mechanical stimuli to cells to direct their differentiation. Achieving these design goals is challenging, but could potentially be realised by integrating computational tools such as finite element (FE) modelling with three-dimensional (3D) printing techniques to assess how scaffold architecture and material properties influence the performance of the implant. In this study we first use Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) to modulate the architecture of polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds, exploring the influence of varying fibre diameter, spacing and laydown pattern on the structural and mechanical properties of such scaffolds. We next demonstrate that a simple FE modelling strategy, which captures key aspects of the printed scaffold's actual geometry and material behaviour, can be used to accurately model the mechanical characteristics of such scaffolds. We then show the utility of this strategy by using FE modelling to help design 3D printed scaffolds with mechanical properties mimicking that of articular cartilage. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that a relatively simple FE modelling approach can be used to inform the design of 3D printed scaffolds to ensure their bulk mechanical properties mimic specific target tissues.

中文翻译：

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整合有限元建模和 3D 打印以设计用于组织工程的仿生聚合物支架。

组织工程支架的适用性由许多相互关联的因素决定。生物材料应具有生物相容性和细胞指导性，具有促进细胞迁移和营养物质和废物进出支架的孔隙率和孔隙互连性。对于承重组织的工程，可能还需要支架具有特定的机械特性和/或确保将机械刺激转移到细胞以指导它们的分化。实现这些设计目标具有挑战性，但可以通过将有限元 (FE) 建模等计算工具与三维 (3D) 打印技术集成来评估支架结构和材料特性如何影响植入物的性能来实现。在这项研究中，我们首先使用熔融沉积建模 (FDM) 来调节聚己内酯 (PCL) 支架的结构，探索不同的纤维直径、间距和铺设模式对此类支架的结构和机械性能的影响。我们接下来展示了一个简单的有限元建模策略，它捕获了打印支架的实际几何形状和材料行为的关键方面，可用于准确模拟此类支架的机械特性。然后，我们通过使用有限元建模来帮助设计具有模仿关节软骨的机械特性的 3D 打印支架来展示该策略的实用性。综上所述，