title: Design for minimizing fracture risk of all-ceramic cantilever dental bridge.
abstract: Minimization of the peak stresses and fracture incidence induced by mastication function is considered critical in design of all-ceramic dental restorations, especially for cantilever fixed partial dentures (FPDs). The focus of this study is on developing a mechanically-sound optimal design for all-ceramic cantilever dental bridge in a posterior region. The topology optimization procedure in association with Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) is implemented here to search for the best possible distribution of porcelain and zirconia materials in the bridge structure. The designs with different volume fractions of zirconia are considered. The results show that this new methodology is capable of improving FPD design by minimizing incidence of crack in comparison with the initial design. Potentially, it provides dental technicians with a new design tool to develop mechanically sound cantilever fixed partial dentures for more complicated clinical situation.
authors.affiliation: School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Zhongpu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Centre for Innovative Structures and Materials, School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne 3001, Australia.
authors.forename: Shiwei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Disciplines of Biomaterials, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Swain
authors.affiliation: School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D002516:Ceramics / Q000737:chemistry*; D019245:Compressive Strength; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D003764:Dental Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D003799:Dental Stress Analysis; D003830:Denture, Partial, Fixed; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D006244:Hardness; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength; D015040:Zirconium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D003764:Dental Materials; D015040:Zirconium; C028541:zirconium oxide
keywords: Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM); Fixed partial dentures (FPDs); cantilever bridge; fracture mechanics; topology optimization