Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2002) 19:217–223
 2002 Springer-Verlag London Limited
Investigation of 3D Non-Random Porous Structures by Fused
Deposition Modelling
M. H. Too1, K. F. Leong1, C. K. Chua1, Z. H. Du1, S. F. Yang1, C. M. Cheah1 and S. L. Ho2
1
School of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; and 2Mechanical Engineering
Department, Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore
The development of 3D non-random porous structures for
biomedical applications has been of interest for many years.
Processing of these 3D non-random porous structures using
the fused deposition modelling (FDM) process is presented in
this paper. The FDM built structures were evaluated to deter-
mine their suitability for use in the area of tissue engineering.
The influence of process parameters on the porosity, pore
diameter and compressive strength of the porous structures
was investigated. The FDM process was found to be able to
provide good control and reproducibility of the desired degree
of porosity and 3D microstructure. This technology also offers
flexibility and ease of varying the microstructure to meet
specific structural and functional requirements for tissue engin-
eering.
Keywords: Biomedical application; Fused deposition model-
ling (FDM); Porous structure; Rapid prototyping (RP); Raster
gap; 3D microstructure
1. Introduction
The development of specially designed porous structures (i.e.
scaffolds) for biomedical application in the area of tissue
engineering, has been a major focus in current biomedical
research. Among the most important features required in scaf-
folds built for tissue engineering purposes, are porosity, pore
diameter, and mechanical strength. The regeneration of specific
tissue cells seeded on a scaffold is shown to be dependent on
the porosity and the pore size of its structure. A large pore
volume is required to accommodate and deliver the cells for
tissue repair, whereas a high surface area favours cell attach-
ment and growth. For scaffold designs, appropriate pore sizes
must be incorporated for the delivery of a large number of
cells to accelerate bone-remodelling [1]. There have been sev-
Correspondence and offprint requests to: Dr C. K. Chua, School
of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Nanyang Technological
University, Nanyang Avenue, 639798, 2263, Singapore. E-mail:
mckchua얀ntu.edu.sg
eral efforts to produce scaffolds with 3D pore inter-connectivity
for tissue-engineered implants using different processing tech-
niques, such as, fibre bonding, solvent casting, particulate
leaching, melt moulding, and membrane lamination [2–5].
Unfortunately, most of these processes generate scaffolds with
unpredictable pore sizes and arrangements owing to their lim-
ited flexibility in controlling the pore volume and distribution.
Moreover, the generated scaffolds lack structural stability and
have poor mechanical strength. With the introduction of rapid
prototyping (RP) technology [6], scaffolds suitable for tissue
engineering can be produced with 3D microstructures contain-
ing consistent pore sizes and arrangements [7–12]. In addition,
RP technology offers the ease and flexibility to meet scaffold
characteristics in terms of the structural and functional require-
ments specified for use in different applications of tissue engin-
eering.
Fused deposition modelling (FDM), developed by Stratasys
[13], is among one of the most popular RP processes. It creates
physical objects directly from CAD 3D solid models via
computer-controlled robotic extrusion of a small polymeric
road in an additive layer-by-layer material deposition process
[14,15]. This polymeric material is vertically stacked layer-by-
layer and consists of material “roads” or “raster lines” with
pre-defined voids called raster gaps. The ability of the FDM
process to pre-define the raster gap enables it to create a non-
random porous 3D object with a predictable and intended
microstructure for a specific parameter setting.
This paper studies the feasibility of employing the FDM
technique in scaffold building. Fundamental studies were car-
ried out on the microstructure of FDM parts to determine
their conformity to scaffold requirements. Initial studies were
conducted to investigate the influence of the raster gap process
parameter for the porosity, pore diameter, and strength of the
FDM parts. These studies will determine the suitability of the
FDM process for providing an effective and high degree of
control over the sizes of the pores generated, and the uniformity
of their arrangement within the part. A mathematical model to
predict the porosity of FDM built structures with prespecified
process parameter settings is presented.
218 M. H. Too et al.
2. Experimental Method
An FDM system, Stratasys FDM1650 Modeller, was employed
to build all the test specimens. Under the FDM process, as
shown in Fig. 1, spooled filaments of 0.070 in or 1.778 mm
nominal diameter are fed into a liquefier head using computer-
driven counter-rotating rollers. The filament softens and melts
inside the liquefier at a temperature just above its melting
point. This molten material is extruded from a nozzle at the
end of the liquefier, where it is controlled to move in the
horizontal X,Y–plane. A fixtureless build platform moves in
the Z-direction to provide the third axis of motion, which
reproduces the height of the model. The process starts with a
road of material of defined road width, RW, and slice thickness,
ST, being deposited onto the part bed to recreate the slice
data. All test specimens were fabricated from acrylonitrile-
butadiene-styrene (ABS) material under the brand name ABS
(P400) marketed by Stratasys [13].
The perimeter and contour fill patterns provided in the
“QuickSlice” software of the FDM system, are not employed
in these studies to avoid blocking the interconnectivity of the
pores within the structure in both the X- and Y-directions. The
use of such fill patterns will create closed-loop road patterns
with a start and end-point, which will eventually negate the
through and interconnected pore concept required for tissue-
engineering purposes. Therefore, only the raster fill pattern is
used, in which the liquefier head is controlled to move back
and forth over the entire predefined regions to be built for
each single layer. The advantage of using this pattern is the
ability to change the direction of the raster motion in adjacent
layers, which results in a matrix-like structure, which is favour-
able for use in tissue engineering. The raster angle used is
0°/90°, so that every successive layer is built orthogonal to
the previously generated layer. This design, because of its
simplicity, allows a better understanding of the FDM process
in terms of its porosity, pore sizes, and mechanical strength.
Fig. 1. FDM process.
All the test specimens were built in cube form with edge
dimensions of 10 mm. The test specimens were built with
varying raster gap, RG, settings from 0 mm to 0.5 mm in
increments of 0.05 mm. RW and ST were set at 0.315 mm
and 0.254 mm, respectively, for all the specimens built. Based
on the built test specimens, several measurements were car-
ried out.
The 3D pore interconnectivity of the test specimens was
investigated using micrographs taken of their microstructure
with a JEOL 5600 scanning electron microscope (SEM). The
effect of the variation of RG setting on the porosity, pore
size, and mechanical strength of the test specimens were
also investigated.
To calculate the porosity, Pcalc, within the specimens, weight
measurements were taken using a microscale and used as a
variable for the calculation. The value of Pcalc was then determ-
ined using Eq. (1), which is an established equation for the
calculation of porosity for open structures.
Pcalc ⫽ 1 ⫺ 冉 Wspecimen/Vspecimen
␳material 冊 (1)
where Wspecimen and Vspecimen represent the measured weight and
the volume of the specimens, respectively, and ␳material is the
density of the ABS (P400) material.
A mercury porosimeter, Autopore III, Micromeritics, was
also used in the measurement of porosity, Pmeasured, within the
test specimens. The mercury porosimeter is able to measure the
value of the pore diameter, Pdia, achieved in each test specimen.
To determine the mechanical strength of the specimens, a
tensile machine, Instron 5569, fitted with a 10 kN load cell,
was used. The specimens were compressed at a rate of 0.5
mm s⫺1. The compression tests were carried out with loading
applied in the Z-direction of the specimens.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1 Microstructure Examination
Figure 2 shows the surface morphology of a test specimen
generated using a road width of 0.315 mm, a slice thickness
of 0.254 mm and a raster gap setting of 0.4 mm, taken with
an SEM. The micrograph is taken with the sliced specimen
set at a tilt angle of 45° to the horizon. It can be seen from
the micrograph that 3D interconnecting pores exist within the
microstructure of the test specimen. Further, it can also be
observed that there is a high degree of uniformity and consist-
ency in the arrangement and size of the extruded roads and
spacing between successive roads (raster gap). As discussed,
this matrix-like structure is highly favourable for tissue engin-
eering.
Figures 3(a) to 3(f) present a series of surface morphologies
of specimens built with varying RG settings from 0 mm to
0.5 mm in increments of 0.1 mm at constant RW and ST
settings of 0.315 mm and 0.254 mm, respectively. From these
micrographs, the RG setting is seen to have a very significant
influence on the microstructure of the specimen. Since a pore
or void is the space created between successive roads within
a layer, by increasing the value of RG it can be observed that

Fig. 2. Scaffold with 3D interconnected pore microstructure.
the pore formed in the specimens increases in size. The
flexibility of the FDM process for changing the RG setting
allows highly consistent, controllable and reproducible pore
size and arrangement.
The 3D interconnectivity of open voids or pores observed
from the micrograph presented in Figs 2 and 3 shows that the
FDM process is capable of producing a matrix-like structure
or scaffold that is consistently controllable, with reproducible
porosity and uniform pore arrangement. The consistency and
repeatability of the extruded roads or raster lines and the RG
settings enables the production of matrix-like structures with
intended and predictable microstructure. These conditions are
highly favourable, since they allow the user to predict accu-
rately and produce structures with known pore sizes and
arrangements. Interconnectivity of the pores is achievable in
the FDM process because no support generation is required
during part building using the cross-hatch pattern, since the
RG settings used are very small.
3.2 Determination of Porosity and Pore Diameter
The measured weight, Wspecimen, of the test specimens and their
porosity calculated using Eq. (1), Pcalc, and measured using
the mercury porosimeter, Pmeasured, are tabulated in Table 1.
The Wspecimen values were plotted against RG settings, as
illustrated in Fig. 4. From the graph, it can be observed that
as the RG setting is increased, Wspecimen decreases. This is due
to the fact that as a specimen is built with a high RG setting,
the volume of material extruded into the predefined region or
boundary as indicated in the sliced CAD data is reduced, since
fewer roads are deposited owing to the large spacing between
successive roads. Hence, specimens built with high RG settings
contain smaller volumes of material, resulting in lighter
weights.
3D Non-Random Porous Structures 219
The Pcalc values were also plotted in relation to the RG
settings and presented in Fig. 4. From the graph, two obser-
vations were noted. First, it can be seen that when RG
increases, Pcalc values are also observed to increase. This is
due to greater pore volume being introduced into the structure
of the specimen during building with the use of high RG
values. This observation can also be explained from the fact
that since Wspecimen decreases with the use of large RG settings,
while the bulk volume, Vspecimen, of the specimens remain the
same owing to their similar dimensions, the resulting bulk
density of the specimens (Wspecimen/Vspecimen) will decrease. This
will, in effect, cause an increase in the value of Pcalc. Secondly,
at an RG setting of 0 mm, it is observed that the specimen
possesses a non-zero porosity value. This suggests that the
geometry of the extruded road is not of rectangular shape, but
resembles an elliptical shape.
Comparing the values of porosity in Table 1, it can be
observed that both Pmeasured and Pcalc are in close agreement
at low RG settings. At RG settings above 0.05 mm, the value
of Pmeasured is seen to deviate significantly from Pcalc. This may
be because the non-random porous structure of the specimens
fabricated using the cross-hatch pattern results in specimens
with open structures, having no clear and closed enveloping
boundary. When the RG setting is large, the increased size of
the pores or voids on the surface of the specimen allows the
intrusion of mercury into the internal pores of the structure
before any measurement commences. This will inadvertently
affect the value of the measured porosity, Pmeasured, as reflected
in the results in Table 1. Hence, the mercury porosimeter is
used only in the measurement of the pore diameter, Pdia,
because the calculation of Pdia is dependent only on the
intrusion pressure and not the intrusion volume itself.
The measured Pdia corresponding to the various test speci-
mens is shown in Fig. 5. Measurements of Pdia can only be
carried out for specimens built with RG settings of 0.2 mm
and smaller. Beyond RG settings of 0.2 mm, the mercury
porosimeter is not able to yield accurate values of Pdia since
the resulting pore diameters are out of the measurable range
of the instrument. From Fig. 5, it can be seen that the
measurable Pdia increases with increasing RG settings. When
the RG setting is increased, the void dimension in the horizontal
plane increases, leading to a larger void or pore size, which
is reflected by the increase in Pdia. It is also observed that at
an RG setting of 0 mm, the pore diameter of the specimen is
not zero, indicating a non-zero porosity value. This supports
the notion that the geometry of the extruded road is not a
rectangular shape as explained earlier.
3.3 Mechanical Strength Determination
Experimental results for the strength of the test specimens
subjected to compressive loads were plotted against RG set-
tings, as shown in Fig. 6. The compressive stresses were
calculated based on the apparent cross-sectional area of the
specimen and do not account for the open void area of the
pores, since it is desirable to evaluate the structure of the
specimens as a whole. From Fig. 6, the compressive strength
of the test specimen decreases with increasing RG setting. This
220 M. H. Too et al.

Fig. 3. Micrographs for specimens built with (a) 0 mm, (b) 0.1 mm, (c) 0.2 mm, (d) 0.3 mm, (e) 0.4 mm, (f) 0.5 mm RG settings.
 3D Non-Random Porous Structures 221

Table 1. Measured weight, Wspecimen, porosity calculated, Pcalc, and

porosity measured, Pmeasured, with varying raster gap settings, RG.

Raster gap, Measured weight, Porosity Porosity

RG (mm) Wspecimen (g) calculated, Pcalc measured,
Pmeasured (%)

0.00 0.8210 21.81 21.07

0.10 0.6474 38.34 45.46
0.20 0.4983 52.54 59.02
0.30 0.4248 59.54 –
0.40 0.3770 64.09 –
0.50 0.3262 68.93 –

Fig. 6. Compressive strength, ␴, versus raster gap, RG.

Fig. 4. The weight of the specimen, Wspecimen, and calculated porosity,

Pcalc, versus raster gap, RG.
Fig. 7. Compressive strength, ␴, versus calculated porosity, Pcalc.

␴ ⫽ ␴0 exp(⫺bPcalc) (2)
where, ␴ and ␴0 are the compressive stresses on the porous
and non-porous structure, respectively, b is a constant and Pcalc
is the porosity calculated using Eq. (1).

3.4 Derivation of Equation for the Prediction of

Porosity

Porosity of the microstructure from the tissue-engineering view-

Fig. 5. Pore diameter, Pdia, versus raster gap, RG.
is due to the decrease in the number of raster lines, NR, within
each layer, owing to the use of high RG settings, resulting in
a decrease in the amount of load-carrying material. This will
inadvertently lead to a drop in the compressive strength of the
specimen. In other words, the compressive strength of the
porous structure depends on micro-structural factors such as
porosity or relative density.
The graph of compressive strength against porosity, Pcalc, is
shown in Fig. 7. From the graph, it can be seen that the
compressive strength of the specimens decreases with an
increase in their porosity. This observed trend is in close
agreement with the exponential equation proposed by Ryshke-
witch [16], which is expressed as follows:
point is an important issue, as mentioned earlier. It has been
shown that by varying the RG setting, the spacing between
successive extruded roads or raster lines in the FDM process
can be adjusted, thus allowing the porosity of the structures
to be varied. Since there exists a continuous trend in the
relationship between porosity and RG setting, as illustrated in
Fig. 4, a new mathematical model for the prediction of porosity
for matrix structures with constant cross-sections built using
the FDM process is proposed. The derivation of this proposed
model will be based on the valuation of one layer.
The schematic diagram of Fig. 8 is used to aid the derivation
of the proposed mathematical model. The extruded roads are
laid in a continuous form, therefore there exist connections
between the ends of the successive roads. Because of the
constant cross-sectional area of each layer constituting the
structure, the porosity of the entire structure is similar to the
porosity of a single layer. The porosity of the structure, Ptheo,
can therefore be determined using the following equation:
222 M. H. Too et al.

Table 2. Number of layers, NL, number of raster lines, NR, initial

porosity, Pinitial, and porosity predicted, Ptheo, with varying raster gap
settings, RG.

Raster gap, Number of Number of Initial Porosity

RG (mm) layers, NL raster lines, porosity, predicted,
NR Pinitial (%) Ptheo (%)

0.00 39 31 19.17 21.07

0.10 39 24 – 38.31
0.20 39 19 – 50.71
0.30 39 16 – 58.12
0.40 39 14 – 63.03
0.50 39 12 – 68.05

Table 2 gives the results of the predicted porosity, Ptheo,

Fig. 8. Model for prediction of porosity, Ptheo.
Vpore/layer
Ptheo ⫽
Vpart/layer
where, Vpore/layer and Vpart/layer are the total pore volume within
one layer and the volume of one layer thickness of the initial
CAD model, respectively, calculated using the equations below:
Vpore/layer ⫽ Vpart/layer ⫺ {Vrect.road ⫻ (1 ⫺ Pinitial)},
Vpart/layer ⫽ lmodel ⫻ wmodel ⫻ ST
where,
Vrect. road ⫽ RW ⫻ ST ⫻ [(NR ⫻ wmodel) ⫹ (NR ⫺ 1)
⫻ RG]
The variables hmodel, lmodel, and wmodel are the height, length,
and width of the 3D solid CAD model of the test specimen.
Also, NL and NR, being integer values, are the number of
layers in the specimen and the number of raster lines in
each layer, respectively. NL and NR are calculated using the
following equations:
hmodel lmodel ⫹ RG
NL ⬍ , NR ⬍
ST RW ⫹ RG
The variable, Vrect. road, is the volume of the extruded road
when its cross-section is taken to be rectangular in shape.
However, as shown in Fig. 8, the cross-section of an extruded
road is elliptical in shape. Hence, the difference in volume
between the two geometries of the road cross-sections forms
the initial porosity value, Pinitial, as represented by the dotted
region in Fig. 8.
Pinitial ⫽ 1 ⫺
Wspecimen
{␳material ⫻ [NL ⫻ wmodel ⫻ NR ⫻ RW ⫻ ST]}
where, Wspecimen in this calculation refers to the average weight
of the specimen when the RG setting is 0 mm.
The mathematical model for the prediction of porosity can
thus be formulated from Eq. (3) as shown below:
Ptheo ⫽ 1 ⫺
RW ⫻ [NR ⫻ wmodel ⫹ (NR ⫺ 1) ⫻ RG] ⫻ (1 ⫺ Pinitial)
lmodel ⫻ wmodel
calculated using Eq. (4). Figure 9 illustrates a comparison of
Ptheo and Pcalc with varying RG settings. As observed, the
values of Ptheo and Pcalc are in close agreement in magnitude
(3) for all the RG settings tested. It can be inferred that Eq. (4)
is able to predict the porosity of FDM generated structures of
constant cross-sections with good accuracy. Thus, a basis for
calculating the porosity for different RG, ST, and RW settings
has been established. However, it should be noted that Eq. (4)
assumes the cross-sectional area of the extruded road to be
constant for the entire build process. Furthermore, for different
combination of ST and RW settings, its corresponding initial
porosity, Pinitial must be determined first, before applying Eq.
(4) to predict the porosity with response to varying RG settings.
This is because different combinations of ST and RW settings
will result in different values of Pinitial, owing to the change
in the geometry of the road.
4. Conclusion
The generation of a non-random porous matrix structure with
3D interconnected pores directly from the fused deposition
modelling (FDM) process was successful. Some important
criteria for tissue-engineering applications such as the porosity,
pore diameter, and compressive strength were investigated as
a function of raster gap size. From the investigations, the
following conclusions can be drawn. Experimental results show
(4)
Fig. 9. Comparison between calculated porosity, Pcalc, and predicted
porosity, Ptheo, versus raster gap, RG.

that the raster gap size has a profound effect on the porosity,
pore diameter, and compressive strength of the FDM built part.
An equation was formulated to predict the effect of raster gap
size on the porosity of the structure. Although the equation
predicts the trend of the porosity with respect to the raster gap
size accurately, more detailed investigation into controlling and
determination of the cross-section of the extruded roads is
required in order to use the equation effectively. Since the FDM
process allows flexibility in the control of other parameters
such as road width, slice thickness, and raster angle, different
combinations of these parameters can be optimised to produce
porous scaffold structures suitable for use with different appli-
cations in tissue engineering.
Acknowledgements
The authors express their appreciation to Singapore Polytechnic
for the use of its facilities for this research. They acknowledge
the financial support of this project by the Ministry of Edu-
cation, Singapore.
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