Effect of hybrid polymer coating of Bioglass ^® foams on mechanical response during tensile loading

A simplified two-dimensional finite elements model was created for a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) coated BioglassH strut undergoing tensile stresses (loading mode I). The strengthening contributions due to the infiltration of coating into surface cracks and coating's stiffness were evaluated in terms of stress intensity factor KI and tensile stresses σyy in the proximity of the crack tip. The infiltration of the coating until the crack tip resulted as themost effective criterion for the struts strengthening. BioglassH based scaffolds were dip coated into PVA and PVA/microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) aqueous solutions and tested in tensile load. Coated samples exhibited remarkably higher tensile strength than non-coated ones, which further raised with the increased amount of MFC. Contact angle θ and linear viscosity n measurements of PVA/MFCsolutions showedthatMFCcauseda reduction inh andadrastic increase in θ, indicating that a balance between these two effects must be achieved.