To better understand response or fracture conditions of the ceramic foam materials to the mechanical loading, a finite element (FE) analysis of these structures has to be employed. The cellular structure of foams can be modelled either using a detailed realistic FE model based on the computer tomography scans or by using of simplified, beam element based, models. Nevertheless a main drawback of the realistic foam modelling consists in its high demandingness on computational resources. Therefore, simplified models are welcome substitutions (at least for analysis of the global mechanical foam response). The regular foam structure, based e.g. on Kelvin cells, is simple from the modelling point of view, but it doesn´t exactly capture the fully random character of the real foam structures and corresponding response to the external load. Definition of the random beam foam structure (respecting the real cell shapes and their distribution within volume), can thus improve this deficiency. The main aim of this work is thus to compare these different modelling approaches and quantify the influence of the foam irregularity on the response of ceramic foams to external (tensile) loading for various model sizes.
Debonding of zirconia cantilevered resin-bonded fixed dental prostheses (RBFDPs) remains the main treatment complication, therefore, the present in vitro study aimed to evaluate the effect of different surface pretreatments on the bonding of zirconia RBFDPs. Eighty milled zirconia maxillary central incisors, with complementary zirconia cantilevered RBFDPs, were randomly subjected to four different surface pretreatments (n = 20): as-machined (AM); airborne-particle abraded (APA); coated with nanostructured alumina coating (NAC); incisor air-abraded and RBFDP coated (NAC_APA). After bonding, half of each group (n = 10) was stored in deionized water (150 days/37 °C), thermocycled (37,500 cycles, 5–55 °C), and cyclically loaded (50 N/1.2 × 106). Load-bearing capacity (LBC) was determined using a quasi-static test. Additionally, finite element analysis (FEA) and fractography were performed. t-test and one-way ANOVA were used for statistical-analysis. Before aging, the NAC group provided superior LBC to other groups (p < 0.05). After aging, the AM specimens debonded spontaneously, while other groups exhibited comparable LBC (p ˃ 0.05). The FEA results correlated with the in vitro experiment and fractography, showing highly stressed areas in the bonding interface, cement layer, and in RBFDP’s retainer wing and connector. The NAC RBFDPs exhibited comparable long-term bonding performance to APA and should be regarded as a zirconia pretreatment alternative to APA.
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