In this study, neat PCL, neat PLA and PLA/PCL (50/50) based tubular surfaces are produced by electrospinning to simulate the native blood vessel structure and to investigate the effects of both graft material and fiber orientation on burst strength. The burst pressure values of these vascular graft structures that designed with both randomly oriented fibers and oriented fibers, measured by a custom- burst pressure tester, and the results are compared. The results show that fiber orientation have a great influence on burst pressure, regardless of the type of biomaterial. It is determined that grafts with oriented fibers have at least twice the burst strength than those with random fibers. The findings indicate that changing the graft material has also an effect on burst strength. When the results are analyzed by polymer type, although the PLA100_O sample has the highest burst strength among all oriented fiber sample groups, it is better to determine the vascular graft candidate by taking into account radial elasticity.

Vascular diseases are a major source of fatalities globally. However, the lack of accessibility of autologous vessels and the poor efficacy of commercial small-diameter vascular grafts limit surgical alternatives. Researchers therefore aimed to develop vascular prostheses that meet all requirements. Apart from the benefits of tissue-engineered grafts, significant obstacles that still hinder successful grafting include compliance mismatch, dilatation, thrombus development, and the absence of elastin. Among these issues, compliance mismatch between native vessel and artificial vascular scaffold has been mentioned in the literature as a possible cause of intimal hyperplasia, suture site rupture and endothelial and platelet cell damage. As a result, the usage of suitable materials and optimized fabrication techniques are required to achieve better control over the characteristics and functionality of the grafts. In particular, in the case of electrospun vascular grafts, the compliance can be adjusted throughout a broad range of values by adjusting the electrospinning parameters such as material selection, fiber orientation, porosity, and wall thickness. In this study, the electrospun vascular grafts consisting of pure PCL, PLA, and their blends were produced by using two different rotation speeds to achieve the oriented and non-oriented scaffolds. The impact of polymer type and fiber orientation on the compliance properties was evaluated. The results revealed that both material selection and fiber alignment have a significant effect on the compliance levels. PCL100_R grafts had the highest compliance value whereas the PCLPLA50_O scaffold had the lowest.