High strength porous PLA gyroid scaffolds manufactured via fused deposition modeling for tissue-engineering applications

Gyroid polylactic acid (PLA) scaffolds with different unit cell sizes of 2 ​mm (G2), 2.5 ​mm (G25), and 3 ​mm (G3) were fabricated via fused deposition modeling for bone tissue engineering applications. The porosity of the PLA scaffolds ranged from 86% to 90%. The structural anisotropy value of the scaffolds was 3.80, 2.00, and 1.04 for G2, G25, and G3, respectively. Compressive test results indicated that both the dense PLA and porous PLA scaffolds showed elastic-plastic deformation behavior in both building and transverse directions. The compressive elastic modulus and yield strength of the scaffolds were 118–180 ​MPa and 2–8 ​MPa in the building direction and 106–138 ​MPa and 2.5–6.0 ​MPa in the transverse direction, respectively. The tensile elastic modulus and yield strength were 51–63 ​MPa and 1.5–4.5 ​MPa in the building direction and 11–17 ​MPa and 1–5 ​MPa in the transverse direction, respectively. The gyroid PLA scaffolds showed significantly higher values for compressive strength (up to three times) compared to other gyroid structures reported in the literature. The PLA scaffolds can be anticipated as promising scaffold biomaterials for bone tissue engineering applications by virtue of their bone-mimicking porous structure and good mechanical properties.