Dental Resorative Materials

In this research project, a systematic approach is developed to study the mechanical properties of E-glass particle reinforced BISGMA/TEGDMA dental restorative composite material. Unit cells with randomly distributed reinforcing particles are developed and employed in this study. The bounds of the elastic properties of the composite are predicted by the random unit cell model. The effects of particle arrangement on stress concentrations within particle-reinforced composites are investigated. The constitutive stress-strain relationship has also been obtained using finite element and experimental methods in order to study the elasto-plastic behavior of the composite. The effect of polymerization shrinkage on elasto-plastic properties is also investigated.