Additive Manufacturing Process Investigation for the Fabrication of Composite Scaffolds for Soft Tissue Application

Author

• 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

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

Recommended Citation

Patel, Parimal, "Additive Manufacturing Process Investigation for the Fabrication of Composite Scaffolds for Soft Tissue Application" (2018). Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses-Archive. 800.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/mechaerospace_theses/800