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Region dependent fracture resistance behavior of human dentin based on numerical simulation

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Abstract

Dentin has a hierarchical structure and is composed of numerous tubules whose diameters and densities vary with the distances to the dentin-enamel junction. The unique structure determines the mechanical performance of dentin. In this study, a multiscale model, which is based on the combination of the virtual multidimensional internal bond (VMIB) theory and the Monte Carlo method, is used to simulate the fracture behavior of human dentin. Numerical simulations reveal that human dentin exhibits a graded resistance curve (R-curve). Among the three regions of dentin, superficial dentin shows the strongest resistance to crack propagation, and deep dentin has the weakest resistance. In addition, the predictions of fracture toughness of middle dentin agree well with the experimentally reported values, suggesting that the proposed model can be used to characterize the fracture behavior of human dentin comprehensively and properly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Tenth People’s Hospital of Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, P. R. China

    Yuan-zhi Xu  (徐远志) & Rao-rao Wang  (汪饶饶)

  2. Department of Physics, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, P. R. China

    Bing-bing An  (安兵兵)

  3. Department of Mechanics, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, P. R. China

    Dong-sheng Zhang  (张东升)

  4. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mechanics in Energy Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200072, P. R. China

    Dong-sheng Zhang  (张东升)

Authors
  1. Yuan-zhi Xu  (徐远志)
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  2. Bing-bing An  (安兵兵)
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  3. Dong-sheng Zhang  (张东升)
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  4. Rao-rao Wang  (汪饶饶)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rao-rao Wang  (汪饶饶).

Additional information

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11172161), the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (No. 12ZR1423500), the Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (No. 12ZZ092), and the Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project (No. S30106)

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Xu, Yz., An, Bb., Zhang, Ds. et al. Region dependent fracture resistance behavior of human dentin based on numerical simulation. Appl. Math. Mech.-Engl. Ed. 35, 277–284 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-014-1790-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-014-1790-8

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2010 Mathematics Subject Classification

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