ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomechanics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1638143
Influence of Load-Bearing Angle, Structural Topology, and Porosity Gradient on the Energy Absorption Capability of TPMS-Based Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering
Provisionally accepted
- 1Senior Department of Orthopedics, Fourth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
- 2School of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China
- 3Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China
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Triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) based scaffolds are widely used in bone tissue engineering for fixing bone fractures. The bone scaffolds implanted in the human body may receive shocking or impact loading during daily activities. However their energy absorption (EA) behaviors are still not systematically investigated in the literature. In the present study, the influence of load-bearing angle, the structural topology and porosity gradient on the EA behaviors of TPMS-based scaffolds are investigated. Uniform and porosity gradient Gyroid and IWP structures at the load-bearing angles of 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75° and 90° were created. Mechanical testing and finite element analysis were performed to investigate their EA behaviors, which were characterized using the energy absorption efficiency (EAE), the specific energy absorption (SEA), the levels of the densification strain, plateau stress and stress distribution. The results showed that the load-bearing angle plays an important role in EAE, SEA and plateau stress of porosity gradient Gyroid and IWP scaffolds. Different from the uniform TPMS scaffolds, the porosity gradient Gyroid and IWP scaffolds showed layer-to-layer damage behaviors, which reinforced their load-bearing capability and consequently the SEA performance is improved. The data in the present study provided important guidance on the selection and design of TPMS structures for bone tissue engineering applications.
Keywords: TPMS scaffold, Energy absorption performance, Porosity gradient, load-bearingangle, structural design
Received: 30 May 2025; Accepted: 25 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Lyu, Semenova and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yongtao Lyu, School of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China
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