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3D-Printed Polycaprolactone Mechanical Characterization and Suitability Assessment for Producing Wrist–Hand Orthoses

In this research, the mechanical properties of 3D-printed polycaprolactone (PCL), a biocompatible and biodegradable semi-crystalline polyester, available as feedstock for additive manufacturing technology based on the material extrusion process, were determined. The influence of the infill pattern (...

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Autores principales: Popescu, Diana, Stochioiu, Constantin, Baciu, Florin, Iacob, Mariana Cristiana
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9919332/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36771877
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym15030576
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author Popescu, Diana
Stochioiu, Constantin
Baciu, Florin
Iacob, Mariana Cristiana
author_facet Popescu, Diana
Stochioiu, Constantin
Baciu, Florin
Iacob, Mariana Cristiana
author_sort Popescu, Diana
collection PubMed
description In this research, the mechanical properties of 3D-printed polycaprolactone (PCL), a biocompatible and biodegradable semi-crystalline polyester, available as feedstock for additive manufacturing technology based on the material extrusion process, were determined. The influence of the infill pattern (zig-zag vs. gyroid) and ultraviolet (UV-B) exposure over the specimens’ mechanical performances were also investigated to gather relevant data on the process parameter settings for different applications. Specimens and samples of 3D-printed PCL were analyzed through tensile and flexural tests. The experimental data showed the good repeatability of the manufacturing process, as well as a mechanical behavior independent of the specimens’ infill pattern at full density. No differences between the failure patterns of the tensile specimens were recorded. UV-B exposure proved to have a significant negative impact on the specimens’ tensile strength. The 3D printing of PCL and PCL blends is reported mainly for use in scaffold manufacturing or drug delivery applications. As another novelty, the suitability of commercial PCL filaments for producing patient-customized wrist–hand orthoses was also assessed in this study. Semi-cylindrical PCL samples mimicking the forearm part of a wrist–hand orthosis with hexagonal open pockets were 3D-printed and mechanically tested. The results were discussed in comparison to samples with a similar design, made of polylactic acid. The experiments revealed the need to carefully calibrate the manufacturing parameters to generate defect-free, good quality prints. Once settings were established, promising results were obtained when producing orthoses in a ready-to-use form. On the other hand, the attempts to thermoform flat 3D-printed PCL orthoses proved unsuccessful.
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spelling pubmed-99193322023-02-12 3D-Printed Polycaprolactone Mechanical Characterization and Suitability Assessment for Producing Wrist–Hand Orthoses Popescu, Diana Stochioiu, Constantin Baciu, Florin Iacob, Mariana Cristiana Polymers (Basel) Article In this research, the mechanical properties of 3D-printed polycaprolactone (PCL), a biocompatible and biodegradable semi-crystalline polyester, available as feedstock for additive manufacturing technology based on the material extrusion process, were determined. The influence of the infill pattern (zig-zag vs. gyroid) and ultraviolet (UV-B) exposure over the specimens’ mechanical performances were also investigated to gather relevant data on the process parameter settings for different applications. Specimens and samples of 3D-printed PCL were analyzed through tensile and flexural tests. The experimental data showed the good repeatability of the manufacturing process, as well as a mechanical behavior independent of the specimens’ infill pattern at full density. No differences between the failure patterns of the tensile specimens were recorded. UV-B exposure proved to have a significant negative impact on the specimens’ tensile strength. The 3D printing of PCL and PCL blends is reported mainly for use in scaffold manufacturing or drug delivery applications. As another novelty, the suitability of commercial PCL filaments for producing patient-customized wrist–hand orthoses was also assessed in this study. Semi-cylindrical PCL samples mimicking the forearm part of a wrist–hand orthosis with hexagonal open pockets were 3D-printed and mechanically tested. The results were discussed in comparison to samples with a similar design, made of polylactic acid. The experiments revealed the need to carefully calibrate the manufacturing parameters to generate defect-free, good quality prints. Once settings were established, promising results were obtained when producing orthoses in a ready-to-use form. On the other hand, the attempts to thermoform flat 3D-printed PCL orthoses proved unsuccessful. MDPI 2023-01-22 /pmc/articles/PMC9919332/ /pubmed/36771877 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym15030576 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Popescu, Diana
Stochioiu, Constantin
Baciu, Florin
Iacob, Mariana Cristiana
3D-Printed Polycaprolactone Mechanical Characterization and Suitability Assessment for Producing Wrist–Hand Orthoses
title 3D-Printed Polycaprolactone Mechanical Characterization and Suitability Assessment for Producing Wrist–Hand Orthoses
title_full 3D-Printed Polycaprolactone Mechanical Characterization and Suitability Assessment for Producing Wrist–Hand Orthoses
title_fullStr 3D-Printed Polycaprolactone Mechanical Characterization and Suitability Assessment for Producing Wrist–Hand Orthoses
title_full_unstemmed 3D-Printed Polycaprolactone Mechanical Characterization and Suitability Assessment for Producing Wrist–Hand Orthoses
title_short 3D-Printed Polycaprolactone Mechanical Characterization and Suitability Assessment for Producing Wrist–Hand Orthoses
title_sort 3d-printed polycaprolactone mechanical characterization and suitability assessment for producing wrist–hand orthoses
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9919332/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36771877
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym15030576
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