Computation of flexural properties of HA/PLLA composite using a cell model approach

A three-dimensional finite element analysis was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of predicting the flexural properties of hydroxyapatite-reinforced poly-L-lactide acid (HA/PLLA) biocomposite using three different schemes. The scheme 1, originated from a beam analysis, was used to determine the flexural modulus analytically while the scheme 2 and 3 were designed to have different loading and boundary conditions using a finite element cell modeling approach. An empirical approach using Chow’s formula and experimental data were used for comparison with the predicted results. In order to reduce the computational time and save the storage space involved in determining the effect of varying particle volume fractions on the flexural properties of HA/PLLA, a superelement technique was applied. The results using the scheme 3 and the Chow’s formula were found to be in reasonable agreement with experimental results over the range of particle volume fraction. In addition to the Chow’s formula, local stress distribution and the failure processes in HA/PLLA were simulated using the finite element technique.