This paper reports some fracture characterization results of hydroxyapatite (HAP)-filled poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). For the fracture toughness tests, the HAP concentration was steadily increased. The effect of HAP phase in PCL on the fracture and tearing toughnesses was investigated. The techniques of essential work of fracture (EWF) and tear strength were attempted. T-peel test was also used to evaluate the adhesive bond strength between HAP and PCL components using compression molded PCL-HAP-PCL laminates. Little is reported on the interfacial adhesion properties between bioactive components in scaffold development. The influence of PCL layer thickness (1.25, 2.5 and 3.5 mm) on adhesive strength between HAP and PCL was investigated. The adhesion between HAP and PCL components was found to be relatively strong; however, the thickness of PCL layers did not significantly influence the adhesive strength.

1.
Azevedo
M. C.
,
Reis
R. L.
,
Claase
M. B.
,
Grijpma
D. W.
, and
Feijen
J.
,
2003
, “
Development and Properties of Polycaprolactone/Hydroxyapatite Composite Biomaterials
”,
J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Med.
,
14
(
2)
,
103
107
.
2.
Nalla
R. K.
,
Stolken
J. S.
,
Kinney
J. H.
, and
Ritchie
R. O.
,
2005
, “
Fracture in Human Cortical Bone: Local Fracture Criteria and Toughening Mechanisms
”,
J. Biomech.
,
38
(
7)
,
1517
1525
.
3.
Pezzotti
G.
, and
Sakakurra
S.
,
2003
, “
Study of the Toughening Mechanisms in Bone and Biomimetic Hydroxyapatite Materials Using Raman Microprobe Spectroscopy
”,
J. Biomed. Mater. Res.
,
65A
(
2)
,
229
236
.
4.
Wei
G.
, and
Ma
P. X.
,
2004
, “
Structure and Properties of Nano-Hydroxyapatite/Polymer Composite Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering
”,
Biomaterials
25
(
19)
,
4749
4757
.
5.
Mai, Y. W., Wong, S. C., and Chen, X. H., “Application of Fracture Mechanics for Characterization of Toughness of Polymer Blends” 2000, In Polymer Blends-Performance, Vol 2, Chapter 20, Wiley, New York.
6.
Gent
A. N.
, and
Hamed
G. R.
,
1977
, “
Peel Mechanics of Adhesive Joints
”,
Polym. Engg. Sci.
,
17
(
7)
,
462
466
.
7.
Wong, S. C., Mai, Y. W., and Chen, X. H., 2000, “Fracture Behavior of Polymer Blends” In Polymer Characterization Techniques and Their Applications to Blends, Chapter 7, Oxford University Press, Washington, USA.
8.
Sawyers
K. N.
, and
Rivlin
R. S.
,
1974
. “
The Trousers Test for Rupture
Eng. Fract. Mech.
6
,
557
562
.
9.
Karger-Kocsis
J.
, and
Czigany
T.
,
1996
, “
On the Essential and Non-Essential Work of Fracture of Biaxial-Oriented Filled PET Film
”,
Polymer
,
37
(
12)
,
2433
2438
.
10.
Baji, A., Wong, S. C., Liu, T., Li, T., and. Srivatsan, T. S., 2006, “Morphological and X-ray Diffraction Studies of Crystalline Hydroxyapatite Reinforced Polycaprolactone” J. Biomed. Mater. Res.: Appl. Biomat. In Press
This content is only available via PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.