9. Optimization of Pneumatic Extrusion Machining Method Process Parameters on Polycaprolactone (PCL) Material

Polycaprolactone (PCL) is an auspicious material for bone repair and bone replacement due to similar naturally occurring inorganic components. In this work, the polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds are manufactured using pneumatic extrusion method and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the manufactured scaffolds can be produced to display the interior of the scaffold struts and the profile of in vitro release can be done to reveal the biocompatibility of the scaffolds. In order to confirm the performance of the manufactured composite scaffolds for the required strength of bone loadbearing regions, the UTM tests are carried out, and after this, the Taguchi optimization technique was applied to the numerical data derived from the experiments with the concept of the L9 orthogonal array. From this, it was determined that 40% porosity scaffold, 30 and 90 filament angle, 0.5 mm nozzle diameter is a sophisticated design compatible with the structure and function of the natural bone trabecular part. Taken together these results show that PCL scaffolds can be manufactured easily using 3D printing technology and can be a possible solution as implantable material for bone tissue engineering application.