A Simple Closed-Form Expression For Calculation Of The Electrospun Nanofiber Diameter By Using ABC Algorithm

The producing of nanofiber tissue scaffolds is quite important for enhancing success in tissue engineering. Electrospinning method is used frequently to produce of these scaffolds. In this study a simple and novel expression derived by using artificial bee colony ABC optimization algorithm is presented to calculate the average fiber diameter AFD of the electrospun gelatinbioactive glass GtBG scaffold. The diameter of the fiber produced by electrospinning technique depends on the various parameters like process solution and environmental parameters. The experimental results previously published in the literature which include one solution parameter BG content as well as two process parameters tip to collector distance and solution flow rate related to producing of electrospun GtBG nanofiber have been used for the optimization process. At first the AFD expression has been constructed with the use of the solution and process parameters and then the unknown coefficients belonging to this expression have been accurately determined by using the ABC algorithm. From 19 experimental data 15 ones are used for the optimization phase while the other 4 data are utilized in the verification phase. The values of average percentage error between the calculated average fiber diameters and experimental ones are achieved as 2.2 and 5.7 for the optimization and verification phases respectively. The results obtained from the proposed expression have also been confirmed by comparing with those of AFD expression reported elsewhere. It is illustrated that the AFD of electrospun GtBG can be accurately calculated by the expression proposed here without requiring any complicated or sophisticated knowledge of the mathematical and physical background.