Design and statistical analysis of irregular porous scaffolds for orthopedic reconstruction based on Voronoi tessellation and fabricated via selective laser melting (SLM)

The use of irregular porous structures in bone tissue engineering (BTE) has attracted increasing attention. An irregular porous structure is similar to that of human bone tissue and is more suitable for bone tissue growth than a regular porous structure. In this study, we propose a top-down design method for constructing irregular porous structures based on Voronoi tessellation. The model constructed with this method was fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) and industrial computed tomography (CT) was used to measure the morphological characteristics; the mechanical properties were obtained by quasi-static compressive test. The experimental results showed that the samples had a porosity ranging from 50% to 85%, an average pore diameter ranging from 512 to 998 um, an apparent elastic modulus ranging from 2.13 to 3.97 GPa, and a compressive strength ranging from 78.99 to 130.5 Mpa and met the artificial implant requirements. Three regression equations were established between the three design parameters and the porosity, apparent elastic modulus, and compressive strength using a response surface methodology (RSM). The equations allow for better control of the irregular porous structure and the prediction of the properties.