The role of disc-type crystal shape for micromechanical predictions of elasticity and strength of hydroxyapatite biomaterials

The successful design of ceramic bone biomaterials is challenged by two competing requirements: on the one hand, such materials need to be stiff and strong, which would suggest a low porosity (of pore sizes in the 10-100 mm range) to be targeted; on the other hand, bone biomaterials need to be bioactive (in particular vascularized), which suggests a high porosity of such materials. Conclusively, reliable information on how porosity drives the stiffness and strength properties of ceramic bone biomaterials (tissue engineering scaffolds) is of great interest. In this context, mathematical models are increasingly being introduced into the field. Recently, self-consistent continuum micromechanics formulations have turned out as expressedly efficient and reliable tools to predict hydroxyapatite biomaterials' stiffness and strength, as a function of the biomaterial-specific porosity, and of the 'universal' properties of the individual hydroxyapatite crystals: their stiffness, strength and shape. However, the precise crystal shape can be suitably approximated by specific ellipsoidal shapes: while it was shown earlier that spherical shapes do not lead to satisfactory results, and that acicular shapes are an appropriate choice, we here concentrate on disc-type crystal shape as, besides needles, plates are often reported in micrographs of hydroxyapatite biomaterials. Disc-based model predictions of a substantial set of experimental data on stiffness and strength of hydroxyapatite biomaterials almost attain the quality of the very satisfactory needle-based models. This suggests that, as long as the crystal shape is clearly non-spherical, its precise shape is of secondary importance if stiffness and strength of hydroxyapatite biomaterials are predicted on the basis of continuum micromechanics, from their micromorphology and porosity.