Abstract
Bioactive ceramics/PLLA composites have been expected as a material for the fracture fixations which have more biocompatibility than monolithic PLLA. In this study, β-TCP/PLLA composites containing three different β-TCP contents (4.8, 9.5, 14.3 wt%) were prepared by injection molding. The bending strength of composites decreased and the bending modules of those increased with increasing β-TCP contents. The effect of β-TCP content on the tensile strength and modulus also to does the same tendency of that on bending properties. Nevertheless, the tensile strength was half of bending strength. The results of fracture surface observation showed that the fracture of the composites was initiated by debonding between β-TCP agglomeration and PLLA. In addition, predictions of he tensile stress-strain curves based on the damage mechanics considering the sift of neutral plane were in good agreement with the experimental results.
