Investigation of Mechanical Behaviour of a Bioceramic

In order to find a convincing method to measure bioceramics fracture toughness, tensile strength and modulus, a novel configuration of the Brazilian test was applied and described in the experimental work. The flattened Brazilian specimens, which are in the shape of discs having parallel flat ends, are subjected to compression for determination of opening mode I fracture toughness KIC. Experiments were done by using tricalcium phosphate-fluorapatite composites, which were tested by compressive loading on the parallel flat ends. The loading angle corresponding to the flat end width is about 2α = 20° in order to guarantee crack initiation at the centre of the specimen according to the Griffith criteria. Fracture toughness was also performed by using semi-circular bend “SCB”. Finite-element program, called ABAQUS, is used for numerical modelling for finding stress intensity factors. The effects of fluorapatite additives and fracture toughness were studied. Fracture toughness values of tricalcium phosphate-fluorapatite composites were found to increase with increasing addition of fluorapatite until an appropriate value. It is shown that there is a good agreement among the experimental, analytical and numerical results

TCP-Fluorapatite Composite Scaffolds: Mechanical Characterization and In Vitro/In Vivo Testing

In the present paper, we investigate the biological performance of the tricalcium phosphate ceramic (β-TCP) bone substitute combined with the fluorapatite (Fap). Porous biocomposites consisting of β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) with 26.5% fluorapatite (Fap) were elaborated and characterized in order to evaluate its potential application in bone graft substitute. Bioactivity was determined with in vivo and in vitro tests by immersion of samples in simulated fluid body (SBF) for several periods of time. Clinical, radiological, and histological assessments were then carried out to evaluate the biological properties of developed β-TCP-26.5% Fap composites. An in vivo investigation revealed the biological properties of the prepared macroporous scaffolds, namely, biocompatibility, bioactivity, biodegradability, and osteoconductivity. The morphological characteristics, granule size, and chemical composition were indeed found to be favorable for osseous cell development. All histological observations of the preliminary in vivo study in the tibia of rabbits proved the biocompatibility and the resorption of the investigated bioceramic. In contrast, the implantation period will have to be optimized by further extensive animal experiments