A Numerical Modeling of Fluid Flow in a Mechanically Stimulated Parametric Porous Scaffold for Cartilage Tissue Engineering

Tissue engineering scaffolds, in combination with biological reactors, are used to reproduce cells in order to repair or reproduce tissues and organs. The process of growth and proliferation of cells is essential because of the many influential parameters that need to be controlled. In these processes, the scaffold is usually located within a biological reactor. The nutrients and oxygen flow through the bio-reactor to feed cells planted on the scaffold. In this study, three scaffolds with different porosity were designed. There was an increase in flow within the scaffold up to 10 times. The maximum wall shear stress in the scaffold with the lowest and highest porosity was 45. 5 × 10^-7,4.95× 10^-7 kPa, respectively. The maximum flow velocity in the scaffold with the lowest and highest porosity was 0.11,0.04 mm/s, respectively. The flow that passed through the scaffold suffered from a pressure drop over the scaffold Compared with the beginning of the scaffold. According to the results obtained from flow velocity, shear stress, and pressure drop analysis in order to control the increase in shear stress and pressure drop inside the scaffolds structure, porosity can be increased to some extent that does not damage the ideal surface area to volume ratio.