ELASTIC BEHAVIOUR OF NANOFIBROUS MATERIALS CONSIDERING FIBER RECRUITMENT

D. CABALLERO; N. BIOCCA; F. MONTINI BALLARIN; J.M. GIMENEZ; G. ARES; S.A. URQUIZA

San Miguel de Tucumán

Congreso; XII Congreso Argentino de Mecánica Computacional, MECOM; 2018

AMCA

In the last decades advances in materials science and tissue engineering allowed the development of new biomaterials specifically designed for the reparation or replacement of biological tissue. Inthis context, the ability of synthetic graft tissue to replicate the mechanical properties of the substitutedbiological tissue shows a positive impact on the post-surgical recovery process, diminishing the chanceof rejection and, consequently, increasing the adaptability and durability of the replacement while minimizing undesired secondary effects. Concurrently, electrospinning allows the production of nanofibrousscaffolds with highly porous microstructures resembling the extracellular matrix, capable of achievinga biomimetic mechanical response and simultaneously allowing the regeneration of biological tissue.Electrospunn scaffolds can be specifically designed to work as vascular or myocardial grafts, amongother biomedical applications. Therefore, understanding the relation between the microscopic propertiesof the nanofibers and the macroscopic mechanical response can be a significant contribution towards thedesign of such materials aiming to optimize its biomimetic behavior. In this work, a macroscopic constitutive model for the elastic response of nanofibrous scaffolds is derived assuming that the microscopicproperties of the nanofibers are known as well as their geometric arrangement. Finally, the model isvalidated in comparison to experimental data from uniaxial tensile tests.