A new type of sheet porous structures with functionally gradients based on triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) is proposed for designing bone scaffolds. The graded structures were generated by constructing branched features with different number of sheets. The design of the structure was formulated mathematically and five types of porous structure with different structural features were used for investigation. The relative density (RD) and surface area to volume (SA/V) ratio of the samples were analyzed using a slice-based approach to confirm their relationships with design parameters. All samples were additively manufactured using selective laser melting (SLM), and their physical morphologies were observed and compared with the designed models. Compression tests were adopted to study the mechanical properties of the proposed structure from the obtained stress–strain curves. The results reveal that the proposed branched-sheet structures could enhance and diversify the physical and mechanical properties, indicating that it is a potential method to tune the biomechanical properties of porous scaffolds for bone tissue engineering (TE).

Functional graded materials are gaining increasing attention in tissue engineering (TE) due to their superior mechanical properties and high biocompatibility. Triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) has the capability to produce smooth surfaces and interconnectivity, which are very essential for bone scaffolds. To further enhance the versatility of TPMS, a parametric design method for functionally graded scaffold (FGS) with programmable pore size distribution is proposed in this study. Combining the relative density and unit cell size, the effect of design parameters on the pore size was also considered to effectively govern the distribution of pores in generating FGS. We made use of Gyroid to generate different types of FGS, which were then fabricated using selective laser melting (SLM), followed by investigation and comparison of their structural characteristics and mechanical properties. Their morphological features could be effectively controlled, indicating that TPMS was an effective way to achieve functional gradients which had bone-mimicking architectures. In terms of mechanical performance, the proposed FGS could achieve similar mechanical response under compression tests compared to the reference FGS with the same range of density gradient. The proposed method with control over pore size allows for effectively generating porous scaffolds with tailored properties which are potentially adopted in various fields.