MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

OF
DENTAL MATERIALS
By
Dr Khawaja Rashid Hassan
Assistant Professor
RAWAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH SCIENCES
RAWAL COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY
ISLAMABAD
1

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF
DENTAL MATERIALS
Defined

by the laws of mechanics.

The physical science that deals with
energy and forces and their effects on
the bodies.
Mechanical properties need to be
considered collectively.
Intended application of a material is
important.

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF
DENTAL MATERIALS

1.
2.

Failure or success potential of any

prosthesis / restoration is dependent
upon the mechanical properties of the
material.
The material response may be,
Elastic . reversible on force removal.
Plastic Irreversible / non-elastic.
Mechanical properties are expressed in
terms of stress and/or strain.

MASTICATORY FORCES
Tooth

Occlusal forces
applied by adult
dentition is greatest
in posterior region.
In growing children
there is an average
annual increase in
force of 22 N.
Denture wearers
only apply 40% of
the forces given in
table.

Second
molar
First molar

Average
force (N)
800
390

Bicuspids

288

Cupids

208

Incisors

155

STRESS

When a force acts on the body, a resistance

is developed to the external force applied.
This internal reaction is equal in
magnitude/intensity and opposite in direction
to the applied force and is called as STRESS
Denoted by S or
Designated as force per unit area (=N/m)
Pascal = 1 N / m.
Commonly stress is reported in terms of
megaPascals.

STRAIN
Relative

deformation of an object that

is subjected to stress.
It is change in length per unit length.
It may be elastic, plastic or both
elastic and plastic.
It is denoted by
Designated as L / L.

TYPES OF FORCES APPLIED

1.
2.
3.
4.

Generally, the force applied may be

Axial (tensile or compressive)
Shear (sliding, rubbing)
Bending (bending movement)
Tortional (twisting movement)

TYPES OF FORCES APPLIED

Tension

results when a body is

subjected to two sets of forces directed
away from each other in a straight
line. Force is directed away from the
objcet.
Compression results when the body is
subjected to two sets of forces directed
towards each other in a straight line.

TYPES OF FORCES APPLIED

TENSION

COMPRESSION

TYPES OF FORCES APPLIED

Shear

is a result of two sets of forces

directed parallel to each other , but
not along the same straight line.
Torsion results from the twisting of the
body.
Bending results by applying bending
movement.

TYPES OF STRESSES

1.

2.
3.

3 simple types.
TENSILE STRESS:
causes the body to stretch or elongate.
Tensile stress is always accompanied by
tensile strain.
COMPRESSIVE STRESS:
causes the body to shorten or
compress. Compressive
SHEAR STRESS:
resist the sliding or twisting of one
portion of the body over another.

TYPES OF FORCES APPLIED

Complex stresses
FLEXURAL STRESS:
Also called as bending stress.
Produced by bending forces over the
dental appliance.
Application of shear force may
produce elastic shear strain or plastic
shear strain.

Hooke's Law
Hooke's

Law states that "within the

limits of elasticity the strain
produced by a stress (of any one
kind) is proportional to the stress".
The stress at which a material
ceases to obey Hooke's Law is known
as the limit of proportionality.

13

Hooke's Law
Hooke's

law can be expressed by the

formula
stress / strain = a constant.
The value of the constant depends on
the material and the type of stress.
For tensile and compressive forces it
is called Young's modulus, E; for
shearing forces, the shear modulus, S;
and, for forces affecting the volume of
the object, the bulk modulus , K.
14

PROPORTIONAL LIMIT
It

is the maximum stress at which the

stress is equivalent/proportional to
strain and above this limit the plastic
deformation of a material occurs.
The material may be subjected to
any type of applied force.

15

STENGTH
Strength is the maximum stress that
a material can withstand without
sustaining a specific amount of
plastic strain.
OR
Stress at the point of fracture.
16

STRENGTH PROPERTIES
ULTIMATE TENSILE STENGTH :
Simply called as TENSILE STRENGTH.
It is defined as the Tensile stress at the
point of fracture.
YIELD STRENGTH :
It is the stress at which a test specimen
exhibits a specific amount of plastic strain.
Used in the conditions when proportional
limit cannot be determined with accuracy.
17

STRENGTH PROPERTIES
SHEAR STRENGTH:
Maximum shear stress at the point of
fracture.
FLEXURAL STRENGTH:
Defined as force per unit area at the
point of fracture of a specimen that is
subjected to flexural loading
Also called as BENDING STRENGTH
or MODULUS OF RUPTURE
18

STRENGTH PROPERTIES
FATIGUE STRENGTH:
Determined

by subjecting a material to
cyclic stress of maximum known value and
determining the number of cycles required
to cause failure of the material.
Maximum service stress (endurance limit)
can be maintained without failure over an
infinite number of cycles.
Endurance limit is lower for materials with
brittle and rough surface.
19

STRENGTH PROPERTIES
FATIGUE STRENGTH:
Dental

restorative materials may exhibit

static fatigue failure or dynamic
fatigue failure.
Depends upon the nature of loading or
residual stress situations.
Failure begins as a flaw that propagates till
the catastrophic fracture occurs.
20

STRENGTH PROPERTIES
IMPACT STRENGTH:
Impact

is the reaction of a stationary

object to a collusion with a moving body.
Impact strength is defined as energy
required to fracture a material under an
impact force.
The energy units are joules.

21

ELASTIC MODULUS
Also

called as modulus of elasticity or

Youngs modulus.
It is the relative stiffness or rigidity of a
material.
Measured by the slope of the elastic region
of the stress strain curve.
If a tensile or compressive stress (below the
proportional limit) is divided by
corresponding strain value, a constant of
proportionality will be obtained.
22

ELASTIC MODULUS
Unaffected

by the amount of elastic or

plastic stress induced in the material.
Independent of ductility of a material.
The lower the strain for a given stress,
greater will be the elastic modulus.
E.g. two wires of same shape and size.
Polyether impression materials.
Unit is Giganewtons/m (GPa).
23

FIRST MONTHLY CLASS TEST

THEORY PAPER
3RD

MAY 2012
(THURSDAY)
LECTURE TIMING

TOPICS:
1)
2)
3)

VIVA
4TH

MAY 2012
(FRIDAY)
TUTORIAL TIMINGS

4)
5)

INTRODUCTION TO DENTAL
MATERIALS
SELECTION & EVALUATION
OF DENTAL MATERIALS.
BIOCOMPATIBILITY OF
DENTAL MATERIALS.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF
DENTAL MATERIALS.
MACHANICAL PROPERTIES
OF DENTAL MATERIALS

24

STRESS-STRAIN CURVE
For

materials in which strain is

independent of the length of time
that a load is applied STRESS
STRAIN CURVES are important.

25

ANALYSIS FOR A STRESS

STRAIN CURVE
STIFFNESS & FLEXIBILITY
1) If longitudinal portion of the curve is
closer to the long axis the material
is stiff & not flexible.
2) If it is away from the long axis the
material is flexible.

26

ANALYSIS FOR A STRESS

STRAIN CURVE
TOUGHNESS & BRITTLENESS
1) If material fractures after a long
concave portion of the curve, it
donates that the material is tough &
ductile.
2) If elastic portion of the curve is
minimal, it shows the brittleness of
the material.
27

ANALYSIS FOR A STRESS

STRAIN CURVE
STRNGTH & WEAKNESS
If longitudinal portion of curve is longer,
means that the material is strong.
If longitudinal portion is short the
material is weak.
HENCE FROM THE ANALYSIS OF THE
STRESS STRAIN CURVE IT IS
POSSIBLE TO HAVE AN IDEA ABOUT
THE PROPERTIES OF A MATERIAL.
28

STRAIN TIME CURVES

For

materials in which the strain is

dependent upon the time for which the
load is being applied STRAIN TIME
CURVES are mor useful in explaining the
properties of a material than stress strain
curves.
Examples:
Alginate & rubber base impression
materials, dental amalgam & human
dentin.
29

STRESS STRAIN CURVES

30

STRESS STRAIN CURVES

31

Dynamic Youngs Modulus

Can

be measured by dynamic
method.
Ultrasonic longitudinal and
transverse wave transducers and
appropriate receivers are used.
The velocity of sound wave and
density of material are used to
calculate elastic modulus.
32

RESILIENCE
The

amount of elastic energy per unit

volume released when the stress is
removed.
With increase in interatomic spacing
the internal energy increases.
Until the stress is lower than
proportional limit, the energy is
called as RELILIENCE.
33

TOUGHNESS
Amount

of elastic and plastic deformation

energy required to fracture a material.
Measured by the area under the elastic
region of the stress strain curve.
Toughness increases with increase in
strength and ductility.
Tough materials are generally strong.
Resistance of a brittle material to
propagation of flaws under an applied
stress (FRACTURE TOUGHNESS)
34

DUCTILITY and MALLEABILITY

DUCTILITY:

Ability of a material to deform

plastically under a tensile stress before
fracture. e.g. metal drawn readily into
long thin wires.
MALLEABILITY:
The ability of a material to sustain
plastic deformation, without fracture
under compression.
35

DUCTILITY and MALLEABILITY

Gold

is the most ductile and

malleable pure metal, followed by
silver.
Platinum is ranked third in ductility.
Copper ranks third in malleability.

36

HARDNESS
In

mineralogy, relative hardness of a

substance is based upon its ability to resist
scratching.
In metallurgy and mostly in all other
disciplines, hardness is defined as
resistance to indentation.
Designated as

KNOOP HARDNESS NUMBER.

BRINELL HARDNESS NUMBER.
VICKERS HARDNESS NUMBER.
ROCKWELL HARDNESS NUMBER.
37

TERMS TO REMEMBER
Shapes produced by indentors
On materials

KNOOP HARDNESS
TEST

38

VICKERS
HARDNESS
TEST
BRINELL &
ROCKWELL
HARDNESS TEST

QUESTIONS???
39