Mechanical properties of a porous bioscaffold with hierarchy

In this letter, inspired by multiscale structures of natural tissues, we propose a porous bioscaffold with structural hierarchy to optimize tissue regeneration. By describing its geometric model and performing mechanical analysis, Young’s modulus and strength of the scaffold, which can be formulated with given parameters of the bottom level, are derived by an iterative method. Theoretical predictions on the two mechanical parameters by the present method are compared with others by the homogenization theory and power law; the comparison shows that they agree very well. The porous scaffold could be applied in future tissue engineering as a new biomaterial.

► A new porous scaffold with structural hierarchy is proposed. ► The mechanical properties of the scaffold are derived. ► The porosity is increased while Young’s modulus and strength are sacrificed by increasing hierarchical level numbers. ► The scaffold model is suitable for the spongy bone regeneration.