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Computer reconstructions of tissue engineered scaffolds from micro-tomography images allow to study the architecture of the materials and to make biomechanical analyses using the finite element method. Scaffolds of PLA and glass composite material were used in this study. Mechanical compressive loads were applied on the scaffolds up to a total deformation of 50 %, and in situ synchrotron transversal images were obtained during compression. A FE model was made to simulate the compression test at 5 % of deformation. The highest local stress appears on thin pore walls leading to maximal strain of 20 %. The in situ compression of the scaffold indicates that it fails by buckling as typical thin-walled porous materials. These results have important implications in the deformations felt by the cells when attached in the material in bone tissue engineering experiments.