Modeling and Simulation of a Selective Laser Foaming Process for Fabrication of Microliter Tissue Engineering Scaffolds

Selective laser foaming is a novel process that combines solid-state foaming and laser ablation to fabricate an array of microliter tissue engineering scaffolds on a polymeric chip for biomedical applications. In this study, a finite element analysis (FEA) model is developed to investigate the effect of laser processing parameters. Experimental results with biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) were used for validation. It is found that foaming always occurs before ablation, and once it occurs, the temperature increases dramatically due to an enhanced laser absorption effect of the porous structure. The geometry of the fabricated scaffolds can be controlled by laser parameters. While the depth of scaffolds can be controlled by laser power and lasing time, the diameter is more effectively controlled by the laser power. The model developed in this study can be used to optimize and control the selective foaming process. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4037425]