Parimal Patel

ORCID Identifier(s)

0000-0002-5351-0704

Graduation Semester and Year

2018

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

First Advisor

Panayiotis S Shiakolas

Second Advisor

Pranesh B Aswath

Abstract

Additive manufacturing has been investigated and employed in the bio-medical domain for the fabrication of various devices and scaffolds. In various soft tissue engineering applications, multi-functional multi-material scaffolds are required for cell proliferation, structural integrity, bio-compatibility and tissue regeneration. In this research, an additive manufacturing methodology is developed to allow the fabrication of bio-composite scaffolds using a multi-modality in-house built platform. The researched materials for printing are Poly-L-Lactic Acid (PLLA) and a newly developed photo-curable radiopaque polymer called Rylar (Poly glycerole sebacate fumarate gadodiamide) mixed with a cross-linking agent Poly (Ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA). The developed methodology uses a Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) technique to print PLLA and Direct Ink Writing (DIW) or Viscous Extrusion (VE) to process Rylar in-situ on the same platform. Controlled process parameters of print speed, feed speed, UV intensity, and nozzle to bed distance were investigated to fabricate scaffolds. Multi-layered composite scaffolds with two materials were successfully printed. Further investigation is proposed towards the fabrication of bio-scaffolds with more layers of each material for soft tissue application such as tracheomalacia.

Keywords

Additive manufacturing, Biodegradable, Bioresorbable, Fused filament fabrication, Direct ink writing, Composite scaffolds

Disciplines

Aerospace Engineering | Engineering | Mechanical Engineering

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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