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3D printing assisted finite element analysis for optimising the manufacturing parameters of a lumbar fusion cage

Provaggi, E; Capelli, C; Rahmani, B; Burriesci, G; Kalaskar, D; (2019) 3D printing assisted finite element analysis for optimising the manufacturing parameters of a lumbar fusion cage. Materials & Design , 163 , Article 107540. 10.1016/j.matdes.2018.107540. Green open access

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Abstract

The study herein combines the use of fused filament fabrication (FFF) with finite element analysis (FEA) to enhance the understanding of certain manufacturing parameters (i.e. material, infill density, infill pattern, and outer vertical shell) in the design process of a lumbar fusion cage. Three FFF materials with distinct mechanical properties namely polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and polylactic acid (PLA) were tested. Three infill densities (i.e. 25%, 50%, 75%) were investigated along with two different infill patterns (i.e. rectangular and honeycomb). Compressive modulus and compressive yield strength values obtained from standard mechanical analysis were used as input for FEA to assess numerically the mechanical performance of a lumbar fusion cage under physiological static loading. The findings suggest that both infill density and infill pattern influence the quality of the finished part in terms of both printing accuracy and mechanical response. FEA results indicate that both PC and ABS can be safely adopted to fabricate a porous lumbar cage with a 50% honeycomb infill density and a honeycomb infill pattern. This paper demonstrates that 3D printing assisted FEA can be used to predict the performance of a lumbar cage design with varying manufacturing parameters and potentially reduce product design and development time.

Type: Article
Title: 3D printing assisted finite element analysis for optimising the manufacturing parameters of a lumbar fusion cage
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2018.107540
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2018.107540
Language: English
Additional information: © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: Fused filament fabrication, Infill density, Infill pattern, Finite element analysis, Medical device, Lumbar cage
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Surgery and Interventional Sci
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Surgery and Interventional Sci > Department of Ortho and MSK Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Cardiovascular Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Cardiovascular Science > Childrens Cardiovascular Disease
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Mechanical Engineering
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10063896
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