## 4 Discussion
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Reference** & **Molecular Weight** & **Fabrication Process** & **Geometry** & **Elastic Modulus** & **Yield Strength** \\  & **(M\({}_{\text{sd}}\))** & & & **(N/mm\({}^{2}\))** & **(N/mm\({}^{2}\))** \\ \hline Manufacturer: Perstorp [44] & 84,500 & Injection molding & _n\(\mu\)t_ & 430 & 17.5 \\ [PERSON] et al. [45] & 80,000 & Injection molding & Sheet & 300 & 14 \\ [PERSON] and Kohn [31] & 72,500 & Compression molding & Sheet & 400 & 16 \\ [PERSON] et al. [46] & 84,500 & Mel extrusion & Dumbbell shaped & 264.8 & _n\(\mu\)t_ \\ [PERSON] et al. [47] & 80,000 & Electrospimming & Single fiber & 120 & 13 \\ [PERSON] et al. [48] & 80,000 & Electrospimming & Sheet & 237 & 14 \\ [PERSON] et al. [49] & 80,000 & Electrospimming & Nonween mat & 331 & 56 \\ [PERSON] and Das [22] & 73,000 & SLS & Bulk: solid gage (0\({}^{\circ}\)) & 363.4 & 8.2 \\ [PERSON] and [PERSON] [22] & 73,000 & SLS & Bulk: solid gage (0\({}^{\circ}\)) & 343.9 & 10.1 \\ [PERSON] et al. [50] & _n\(\mu\)t_ & SLS & Hollow Strut & 47 & _n\(\mu\)t_ \\ Manufacturer – Absorbables [51] & 75,000 & _n\(\mu\)t_ & 241.3 & 20.6 \\ Manufacturer – Sigma Aldrich [52] & 43,000–80,000 & _n\(\mu\)t_ & 261.4–400 & 18.6–36.5 \\ [PERSON] and [PERSON] & 43,000 & 3 DB (Melt extrusion) & Bulk: solid gage (0\({}^{\circ}\)) & 63.30 \(\pm\) 3.64 & 13.40 \(\pm\) 0.46 \\ [PERSON] and [PERSON] & 43,000 & 3 DB (Melt extrusion) & Bulk: solid gage (0\({}^{\circ}\)) & 43.89 \(\pm\) 1.01 & 8.88 \(\pm\) 0.67 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Tensile properties of polycaprolactone (PCL) reported in literature. The inherent nature of the manufacturing process along with the actual processing parameters affect the strand geometry and inter-strand spacing, which in turn govern the scaffolds' porous micro-architecture and mechanical properties. To satisfy their physiological functional requirements, scaffolds must possess high porosity to facilitate nutrient and gas exchange as well mechanical properties that match those of the native tissue. Mechanical properties are especially important for load bearing tissues such as bone and cartilage, which experience complex loading conditions. The forces that these tissues experience may act in multiple directions coupled with rotational components and can also be cyclic in nature. Determining appropriate scaffold micro-architecture to achieve desired mechanical characteristics using purely experimental testing can be time consuming and expensive. Additionally, some applications may require the use of robotic testing systems to simulate the complex loading conditions. One alternative strategy is to assess scaffold designs and resulting mechanical characteristics computationally using FE analysis. Once the appropriate FE model is developed, design features including strand geometry and inter-strand spacing can be altered and the simulations run until the required properties are achieved. However, it is also necessary to experimentally validate the accuracy of the model and confirm its fidelity. Phase-3 validation results showed that the FE-estimated effective elastic modulus of bioplotted PCL was in good agreement with the experimentally-determined elastic modulus (difference of 8.3%). Much higher differences between computational and experimental moduli have been reported for SLS-printed scaffolds [22; 29; 50; 53]. For instance, [PERSON] et al. noted that their FE moduli estimates were 50% lower than the experimental compressive moduli of SLS-printed bulk PCL scaffolds [29]. Conversely, [PERSON] et al. and [PERSON] reported higher FE-estimated moduli (67% and 30%, respectively) of SLS-fabricated porous PCL scaffolds. Both those studies attributed the observed differences to the packing density of the SLS powder bed and micro-defects in the fabricated structures. Melt extrusion-based 3 DB offers a more uniform control over the strand micro-structure in comparison to powder-based fabrication processes such as SLS, which may have resulted in better FE model fidelity [54; 55].