Experimental and numerical analysis on bending and tensile failure behavior of calcium phosphate cements

Since their discovery in the 1980s, injectable self-setting calcium phosphate cements (CPCs) are frequently used in orthopedic, oral and maxillofacial surgery due to their chemical resemblance to the mineral phase of native bone. However, these cements are very brittle, which complicates their application in load-bearing anatomical sites. Polymeric fibers can be used to transform brittle calcium phosphate cements into ductile and load-bearing biomaterials. To understand and optimize this process of fiber reinforcement, it is essential to characterize the mechanical properties of fiber-free calcium phosphate matrices in full detail. However, the mechanical performance of calcium phosphate cements is usually tested under compression only, whereas bending and tensile tests are hardly performed due to technical limitations. In addition, computational models describing failure behavior of calcium phosphate cements under these clinically more relevant loading scenarios have not yet been developed. Here, we investigate the failure behavior of calcium phosphate cements under bending and tensile loading by combining, for the first time, experimental tests and numerical modeling. To this end, a 3-D gradient-enhanced damage model is developed in a finite element framework, and numerical results are correlated to experimental three-point bending and tensile tests to characterize the mechanical properties of calcium phosphate cements in full detail. The presented computational model is successfully validated against experimental results and is able to predict the mechanical response of calcium phosphate cement under different types of loading with a unique set of parameters. This model offers a solid basis for further experimental and computational studies on the development of load-bearing bone cements.