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Finite Element Homogenization:
Material characterization of hydroxyapatite/bone composite
scaffolds using Finite Element based homogenization methods
Significant bone ingrowth has been observed within microporous
hydroxyapaptite (HA) scaffolds after just 8 weeks in vivo.
It is very important to understand, quantitatively, how this early
bone ingrowth affects the mechanical properties of the resulting
composite structure. The effective mechanical properties of
the composite can be evaluated by a numerical homogenization
technique based on the Finite Element Method.
Our periodic HA scaffold can be reduced to a representative
volume element (RVE) that repeats in all directions throughout the
material.
  
Periodic HA Scaffold reduced to RVE
Since the scaffold is macroporous, it can be treated
as a two phase composite made of HA and air. The effective
mechanical properties are determined by generating a finite element
model of the scaffold RVE geometry and applying periodic boundary
conditions.
Tetrahedral FE mesh of HA Scaffold
Simplified bone growth geometry is added within the
RVE based on Micro-CT data of explanted scaffolds that were
implanted in porcine muscle for 8 weeks.
 
Micro-CT data of bone growth within HA Scaffold RVEs
The following bone growth geometries were generated
based on Micro-CT observations.
email Lucas McIntosh,
lmcinto2@uiuc.edu, for
questions
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