title: Influence of artificially-induced porosity on the compressive strength of calcium phosphate bone cements.
abstract: The biological and mechanical nature of calcium phosphate cements (CPC's) matches well with that of bone tissues, thus they can be considered as an appropriate environment for bone repair as bone defect fillers. The current study focuses on the experimental characterization of the mechanical properties of CPCs that are favorably used in clinical applications. Aiming on evaluation of their mechanical performance, tests in compression loading were conducted in order to determine the mechanical properties of the material under study. In this context, experimental results occurring from the above mechanical tests on porous specimens that were fabricated from three different porous additives, namely albumin, gelatin and sodium alginate, are provided, while assessment of their mechanical properties in respect to the used porous media is performed. Additionally, samples reinforced with hydroxyapatite crystals were also tested in compression and the results are compared with those of the above tested porous CPCs. The knowledge obtained allows the improvement of their biomechanical properties by controlling their structure in a micro level, and finds a way to compromise between mechanical and biological response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Dionysios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mouzakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece szaoutsos@teilar.gr.
authors.forename: Stefanos Polymeros
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Zaoutsos
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science, University of Patras, Rion, Greece Institute of Chemical Engineering and High Temperature Chemical Processes FORTH, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bouropoulos
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science, University of Patras, Rion, Greece.
authors.forename: Stamatia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rokidi
authors.affiliation: Composite Materials Group, Department of Mechanical and Aeronautics Engineering, University of Patras, Rion, Greece.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Papanicolaou
mesh_terms: D000268:Adhesiveness; D001843:Bone Cements / Q000737:chemistry*; D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry*; D019245:Compressive Strength; D006244:Hardness; D008422:Materials Testing; D016062:Porosity; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
chemical_list: D001843:Bone Cements; D002130:Calcium Phosphates; C485828:alpha-tricalcium phosphate; C020243:calcium phosphate
keywords: Calcium phosphate cements; compressive testing; hydroxyapatite; modeling; porosity