Design and fabrication of 3D-printed hard-soft interfaces made from PLA and hydrogel

The mechanical properties of biological hard-soft interfaces change gradually over a small surface area to prevent the formation of stress concentrations through variations in the interface’s chemical composition, microstructure and geometry. The bone-tendon/ligament and bone-cartilage interface are the most prominent hard-soft interfaces within...

A Characterization Method for Hard-Soft Material Interfaces in Structural Optimization

The distribution of multiple materials within a single structure is a strategy that various biological systems rely on to achieve outstanding mechanical performances. These biological examples illustrate the effective utilization of hard rigid and soft flexible materials in particular. The proper composition of such hard-soft materials exceeds...