Relative density, strut cross-sectional profile, solid's fracture strain, and fracture energy are varied systematically.
Both cubic lattice and honeycomb lattice structures with varied strut diameter and density were designed and manufactured, and their physical characteristics, deformation behavior and compressive properties were investigated.
Using experimentally validated computational simulations, we demonstrate how additive manufacturing can be used to tailor implant properties by controlling surface roughness at a microstructual level (microns), and by altering the strut ordering and density at a mesoscopic level (millimetre).
For irregular low density foams, strut bending and twisting (the "springs-in-parallel" model) dominate the mechanical response at low strains and strut buckling (the "springs-in-series" model) becomes the main deformation mechanism at large compressive strains.
With increasing porogen concentration, volume fraction decreased consistently due to microarchitectural changes in average strut thickness, spacing, and density.
Relative density and strut stacking order are the prime design variables of this ultralight material and the mechanical properties could be engineered by controlling these parameters.
The lattice truss materials may be optimal designed according to their stacking mode of struts and the critical relative density.
Results show that the element density distribution of the strut model was optimized with manufacturing constraints of extrusion constraint and minimum member size control.
The mechanical behaviors are not only decided by the relative density of the lattice and the strut inclination, but also the slenderness ratio of the strut.
Under optimal fabrication conditions, the PCL scaffold demonstrated accurate dimensions (within 3 8%%) compared with the designed dimensions, nearly full density (>95%%) in the solid struts, and remarkable compressive strength, which is the highest compared with other scaffolds produced by SLS.
