Abstract

Scaffolds are customized structures, whose designs influences cell growth for tissue repair. However, they are still under constant study to meet all the biological requirements. In this work, a methodology is proposed, and the behavior of various scaffold designs are numerically evaluated by using the finite elements method. Different geometries are evaluated by varying the material and pore size. Subsequently, after selecting the designs, the viability of the scaffolds in a scaffold-bone-plate assembly in two healing stages was evaluated. The initial, when there is no bone inside the scaffold, and the final repair, when the scaffold is full of bone material. For its evaluation, an equivalent scaffold geometry was proposed using basic homogenization techniques. It was observed that the bone within the Ti6Al4V scaffold significantly increases the mechanical properties of the area, and important areas of stress concentration can be generated. This highlights the convenience of the scaffold being biodegradable to avoid subsequent injuries to the patient, due to the difference in stiffness along the femur. In this evaluation, only two biocompatible materials were considered, such as titanium-aluminum-vanadium (Ti6Al4V) and polylactic acid (PLLA) (biodegradable).