A scaled framework for analysis of crack propagation in teeth using equivalent inorganic materials

Abstract

Experimental investigations of teeth are significantly impeded with the main impediments being small dimensions involved and ethical issues associated with in vivo testing. On the other hand, numerical simulations which can be used as an alternative method have their own inherent limitations which are being reliant on constitutive and boundary information, and also numerical predictions should be validated with experimental findings. Hence, it is necessarily required that experimental tests are conducted on equivalent models which should inevitably be made out of different materials. However, there is no any known method to predict the crack propagation and fracture behavior of structures using equivalent models made from different materials. The present paper aims to propose a scaling method based on the finite similitude theory which has recently been appeared in open literatures to investigate the crack propagation and fracture behavior of teeth in which different materials can even be used for scaled models. The effectiveness of the developed scaling method is examined using the Abaqus finite element software by employing the J-integral, cohesive zone model (CZM), and extended finite element method (XFEM). By conducting the compressive numerical experiments, it is revealed that although the exact prediction of the behavior of a tooth using equivalent models made out of inorganic materials is impossible, it can be anticipated to a good accuracy. Also, the response characteristics of the tooth subjected to a cyclic loading which can be imposed during the act of chewing are anticipated to a good accuracy using the scaled up trial model made out of zirconia which demonstrates the high capability of the proposed method in practical applications.