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Topological design of all‐ceramic dental bridges for enhancing fracture resistance
Author(s) -
Zhang Zhongpu,
Chen Junning,
Li Eric,
Li Wei,
Swain Michael,
Li Qing
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in biomedical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.741
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 2040-7947
pISSN - 2040-7939
DOI - 10.1002/cnm.2749
Subject(s) - finite element method , ceramic , topology optimization , fracture (geology) , brittleness , structural engineering , materials science , optimal design , topology (electrical circuits) , computer science , composite material , engineering , electrical engineering , machine learning
Summary Layered all‐ceramic systems have been increasingly adopted in major dental prostheses. However, ceramics are inherently brittle, and they often subject to premature failure under high occlusion forces especially in the posterior region. This study aimed to develop mechanically sound novel topological designs for all‐ceramic dental bridges by minimizing the fracture incidence under given loading conditions. A bi‐directional evolutionary structural optimization (BESO) technique is implemented within the extended finite element method (XFEM) framework. Extended finite element method allows modeling crack initiation and propagation inside all‐ceramic restoration systems. Following this, BESO searches the optimum distribution of two different ceramic materials, namely porcelain and zirconia, for minimizing fracture incidence. A performance index, as per a ratio of peak tensile stress to material strength, is used as a design objective. In this study, the novel XFEM based BESO topology optimization significantly improved structural strength by minimizing performance index for suppressing fracture incidence in the structures. As expected, the fracture resistance and factor of safety of fixed partial dentures structure increased upon redistributing zirconia and porcelain in the optimal topological configuration. Dental CAD/CAM systems and the emerging 3D printing technology were commercially available to facilitate implementation of such a computational design, exhibiting considerable potential for clinical application in the future. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.