Effects of strain rate on the mechanical properties of tricalcium phosphate/poly(l-lactide) composites

Bioactive ceramic/bioresorbable plastic composites have been expected as materials for the bone fracture fixations which have more biocompatibility than monolithic bioresorbable plastics. Many studies have been conducted on these materials. Most studies, however, focused on the mechanical properties under static loading. In the actual usage, these materials are loaded dynamically. In this study, effects of strain rate on the mechanical properties of tricalcium phosphate/poly(l-lactide) (TCP/PLLA) composites were investigated experimentally and analytically. The TCP/PLLA composites containing three different TCP contents (5, 10 and 15 wt.%) were prepared by injection molding. In order to characterize the mechanical properties, tensile and compressive tests were conducted. The results of tensile tests indicated that the Young’s moduli of composites increased with increasing TCP contents. For each TCP contents, tensile Young’s modulus kept constant up to strain rate of 10⁻¹/s. On the other hand, tensile strength increased with increasing strain rate. The effect of strain rate became larger with decreasing TCP contents, which means the strain rate dependency of the PLLA is more effective than that of TCP. From the results of compressive tests, similar results with tensile tests were obtained. That is, compressive Young’s modulus kept constant up to strain rate of 10⁻¹/s and the 0.2% proof stress increased with increasing strain rate. In order to predict the mechanical behavior of TCP/PLLA composites, the micro-damage mechanics was proposed. In this analysis, 3-phases particle reinforced composites, which include the intact particles, damaged particles and matrix, are assumed. The elastic constants are calculated with micromechanics based on the analyses by Eshelby and Mori and Tanaka. Only the debonding between particle and matrix are assumed as the damage. The nonlinearity in the stress-strain behavior of matrix PLLA is also considered. The debonding particles are assumed as voids. Void formation is calculated based on the energy criterion. The energy release rate associated with void formation was estimated by fitting the analytical results with the experimental results of the composites with 15 wt.% TCP contents for each strain rate. Then the analytical results for the composites with 5 and 10 wt.% TCP contents were compared with the experimental results. The analytical tensile stress-strain curves are in good agreement with experimental results. It is also clarified that the energy release rate associated with void formation increased with increasing strain rate.