Effect of Fiber Reinforcement on the Flexural Strength of the Transitional Implant-Supported Fixed Dental Prosthesis.

PURPOSE: The aim of this in vitro study was to assess the efficacy of fiber reinforcement to enhance flexural strength of the transitional implant-supported fixed dental prosthesis (TISFDP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and forty denture acrylic resin plates (64 mm × 12 mm × 5 mm) with two 7 mm diameter holes were fabricated using heat-polymerized type (Lucitone 199) and CAD-CAM prepolymerized type (AvaDent) materials to simulate a chair-side reconstruction of the TISFDP. Specimens were divided into 7 groups (n = 10) according to the airborne-particle abrasion of titanium cylinder (Straumann) surface and locations of fiber reinforcement ribbons (Ribbond-ULTRA). No cylinder surface abrasion and no fiber added acrylate specimens were used as the controls. The prosthetic screws were hand-tightened on a custom fixture with analogs. Specimen hole and cylinder were joined using a 50:50 mixture of chemically polymerized resin (QYK-SET; Holmes Dental) and repair resin (Dentsply Sirona). Ten acrylate specimens with no holes were fabricated from each tested material and assigned as positive controls. A modified four-point bending test (ASTM standard-D6272) was conducted using a universal testing machine and a custom fixture with a crosshead speed 1 mm/min. The maximum failure loads were recorded. Data were statistically analyzed using 2-way ANOVA and the Tukey tests at α = 0.05. RESULTS: The flexural strength values ranged from 55.4 ±8.3 to 140.9 ±15.4 MPa. The flexural strength decreased significantly when fiber was attached on the titanium cylinder surface (p < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in flexural strength values between specimens with and without titanium cylinder surface abrasion (p > 0.05). Statistically significant improvement in flexural strength was observed in specimens with fibers attached around the specimen holes (p < 0.05) buccally and lingually. The obtained values were not statistically significantly different from the positive controls (p > 0.05). Some fixation screw fractures were observed before catastrophic failure of specimens during testing. CONCLUSIONS: Fiber reinforcement significantly improved the flexural strength of denture acrylic resins only if placed around the specimen holes on the tension side at the site of initiation of crack propagation. Even when the specimens underwent catastrophic failure, the segments remained attached to each other with the attached fibers.

Bone Plates Runout Prediction Through Tensile Strength and Geometric Properties for Regulatory Mechanical Testing.

Mechanical tests on bone plates are mandatory for regulatory purposes and, typically, the ASTM F382 standard is used, which involves a four-point bending test setup to evaluate the cyclic bending fatigue performance of the bone plate. These test campaigns require a considerable financial outlay and long execution times; therefore, an accurate prediction of experimental outcomes can reduce test runtime with beneficial cost cuts for manufacturers. Hence, an analytical framework is here proposed for the direct estimation of the maximum bending moment of a bone plate under fatigue loading, to guide the identification of the runout load for regulatory testing. Eleven bone plates awaiting certification were subjected to a comprehensive testing campaign following ASTM F382 protocols to evaluate their static and fatigue bending properties. An analytical prediction of the maximum bending moment was subsequently implemented based on ultimate strength and plate geometry. The experimental loads obtained from fatigue testing were then used to verify the prediction accuracy of the analytical approach. Results showed promising predictive ability, with R2 coefficients above 0.95 in the runout condition, with potential impact in reducing the experimental tests needed for the CE marking of bone plates.

Ligaments Laxity and Elongation at Injuryin Flexed knees during Lateral Impact Conditions.

The knee is one of the regions of interest for pedestrian safety assessment. Past testing to study knee ligament injuries for pedestrian impact only included knees in full extension and mostly focused on global responses. As the knee flexion angle and the initial ligament laxity may affect the elongation at which ligaments fail, the objectives of this study were (1) to design an experimental protocol to assess the laxity of knee ligaments before measuring their elongation at failure, (2) to apply it in paired knee tests at two flexion angles (10 and 45 degrees). The laxity tests combined strain gauges to measure bone strains near insertions that would result from ligament forces and a custom machine to exercise the knee in all directions. Failure was assessed using a four-point bending setup with additional degrees of freedom on the axial rotation and displacement of the femur. A template was designed to ensure that the two setups used the exact same starting position. The protocol was applied to six pairs of knees which were tested until the failure of all ligaments. In the laxity tests, a higher compliance of the knee was observed at 45 degrees compared to 10 degrees. Minimum lengths associated with the beginning of bone loading were also successfully identified for the collateral ligaments, but the process was less successful for the cruciate ligaments. The failure tests suggested increased elongation and length at failure for the ligaments and their bundles at 45°. This could be consistent with the higher compliance in static test, but the minimum lengths identified on the collaterals did not explain this difference during failure. The results highlight the possible relationship between position, laxity and elongation at failure in a lateral loading and provide a dataset including 3D coordinates of insertions to continue the investigation using a modelling approach. Perspectives are also outlined to improve upon the laxity determination protocol.

Flexural Properties of Textile-Reinforced Concrete with Nonorthogonal Grids.

Textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) is a cement-based composite material that uses textile as a reinforcement material. The weft-direction fiber bundles in the traditional orthogonally arranged warp-weft textile hardly bear force, and its bonding strength with the weft fiber bundle is not ideal. Under the action of force, a small included angle between the stressed fiber bundle and the stressed direction can effectively increase the anchoring effect of their fibers in the matrix, resulting in higher bonding and reinforcement efficiency. To improve the utilization rate of fibers and the bonding strength between the textile and the concrete matrix, an arrangement along the diagonal of the grids was proposed in this paper. The flexural properties of basalt TRC plates with orthogonal grids (OG-BTRC) and plates with nonorthogonal grids (NOG-BTRC) with different grid angles and grid sizes with different laying methods, namely, a side layout (SL) and diagonal layout (DL), were studied through four-point bending tests. A comparative analysis was carried out with an ABAQUS simulation and the test results. The results showed that with a decrease in the grid angle, the BTRC specimens gradually showed a failure mode of multiple cracks, and most of the cracks appeared in the pure bending area; as the grid angle decreased, the BTRC specimens exhibited excellent flexural bearing capacity, good ductility, and high toughness. The total number of cracks on the specimen increased when it failed, while the spacing of the cracks decreased, and the fracture morphology appeared as fine and uniform features. The toughness of the specimen with a small grid angle using the DL laying method was greater than that using the SL laying method. The software simulation value matched the test data well, which proved that the test result was reliable.

Mechanical Comparison of a Novel Hybrid and Commercial Dorsal Double Plating for Distal Radius Fracture: In Vitro Fatigue Four-Point Bending and Biomechanical Testing.

This study compares the absolute and relative stabilities of a novel hybrid dorsal double plating (HDDP) to the often-used dorsal double plating (DDP) under distal radius fracture. The "Y" shape profile with 1.6 mm HDDP thickness was obtained by combining weighted topology optimization and finite element (FE) analysis and fabricated using Ti6Al4V alloy to perform the experimental tests. Static and fatigue four-point bending testing for HDDP and straight L-plate DDP was carried out to obtain the corresponding proof load, strength, and stiffness and the endurance limit (passed at 1 × 106 load cycles) based on the ASTM F382 testing protocol. Biomechanical fatigue tests were performed for HDDP and commercial DDP systems fixed on the composite Sawbone under physiological loads with axial loading, bending, and torsion to understand the relative stability in a standardized AO OTA 2R3A3.1 fracture model. The static four-point bending results showed that the corresponding average proof load values for HDDP and DDPs were 109.22 N and 47.36 N, that the bending strengths were 1911.29 N/mm and 1183.93 N/mm, and that the bending stiffnesses were 42.85 N/mm and 4.85 N/mm, respectively. The proof load, bending strength and bending stiffness of the HDDPs were all significantly higher than those of DDPs. The HDDP failure patterns were found around the fourth locking screw hole from the proximal site, while slight plate bending deformations without breaks were found for DDP. The endurance limit was 76.50 N (equal to torque 1338.75 N/mm) for HDDP and 37.89 N (equal to torque 947.20 N/mm) for DDP. The biomechanical fatigue test indicated that displacements under axial load, bending, and torsion showed no significant differences between the HDDP and DDP groups. This study concluded that the mechanical strength and endurance limit of the HDDP was superior to a commercial DDP straight plate in the four-point bending test. The stabilities on the artificial radius fractured system were equivalent for novel HDDP and commercial DDP under physiological loads in biomechanical fatigue tests.

Flexural Behavior of Polyurethane Concrete Reinforced by Carbon Fiber Grid.

In view of the problems of traditional repair materials for anchorage concrete of expansion joints, such as ease of damage and long maintenance cycles, the design of polyurethane concrete was optimized in this article, which could be used for rapid repair of concrete in anchorage zone of expansion joints. A new type of carbon fiber grid-polyurethane concrete system was designed, which makes the carbon fiber grid have an excellent synergistic effect with the quick-hardening and high-strength polyurethane concrete, and improved the flexural bearing capacity of the polyurethane concrete. Through the four-point bending test, the influence of the parameters such as the number of grid layers, grid width, and grid density on the flexural bearing capacity of polyurethane concrete beams was tested. The optimum preparation process parameters of carbon fiber grid were obtained to improve the flexural performance of polyurethane concrete. Compared with the Normal specimen, C-80-1's average flexural strength increased by 47.7%, the failure strain along the beam height increased by 431.1%, and the failure strain at the bottom of the beam increased by 68.9%. The best width of the carbon fiber grid was 80 mm, and the best number of reinforcement layers was one layer. The test results show that the carbon fiber grid could improve the flexural bearing capacity of polyurethane concrete. The carbon fiber grid-polyurethane concrete system provides a new idea for rapid repair of the anchorage zone of bridge expansion joints, and solves the problems such as ease of damage and long maintenance cycles of traditional repair materials, which can be widely used in the future.

Fatigue Performance of Double-Layered Asphalt Concrete Beams Reinforced with New Type of Geocomposites.

The reinforcement of asphalt layers with geosynthetics has been used for several decades, but proper evaluation of the influence of these materials on pavement fatigue life is still a challenging task. The presented study investigates a novel approach to the reinforcement of asphalt layers using a new type of geogrid composite, in which square or hexagonal polypropylene stiff monolithic paving grid with integral junctions is bonded to polypropylene non-woven paving fabric. The laboratory fatigue tests were performed on large asphalt concrete beams reinforced with the new type of geocomposite. Unreinforced samples were used as reference. Test results were analysed in several aspects, including the standardised approach based on stiffness reduction, but also using energy dissipation. The effect of reinforcement on pavement fatigue life was also estimated. Based on the obtained final results of fatigue life calculations, it can be concluded that the evaluated geogrid composites have an evident positive effect on pavement performance and have a significant potential to extend the overall pavement life, especially in the case of hexagonal grid.

Experimental study on flexural behavior of concrete T-beams strengthened with externally prestressed tendons.

To investigate effect of the number of deviators, the tension method, and the tendon profile on the flexural behaviour of reinforcement concrete (RC) T-beams strengthened with externally prestressed tendons, seven identical RC T-beams strengthened with external prestressing tendons were tested under four-point loading. Of these, one beam was ordinary RC beam without strengthening, another six beams were classified into three groups termed G1, G2 and G3. Two beams in G1 had identical straight external tendons with a different number of deviators, two beams in G2 had identical V shape external tendons with different tension method, and two beams in G3 had identical U shape external tendons with different tension method. The failure mode, deflection, strain, load carrying capacity and ductility of the specimens under loading were recorded and analyzed. Test results indicated that strengthening with external prestressing tendons is a very effective method to improve the load carrying capacity and stiffness of the RC beam. Provision of two deviators at the loading points led to satisfactory service load behavior (deflection, cracking, and concrete strain) and a higher load carrying capacity compared to the case where one deviator or no deviators were provided. In addition, tension method of the external tendon nearly had no effect on the load carrying capacity and mechanical behaviour of the RC beams.

Correlations among bending test methods for dental hard resins.

Three types of bending tests -the 3-point bending test, 4-point bending test and biaxial flexural test- were performed to examine the correlations among the testing methods for dental hard resins (HRs). The results for 5 HRs showed that the bending strengths in descending order were: biaxial flexural strength>3-point bending strength>4-point bending strength. Regression analysis of the test methods indicated that the coefficients of determination were large for all test methods; the largest was for the combination of the 4-point bending test and biaxial flexural tests. The Weibull moduli ranged from 5.42 to 10.61, and a similar descending-order trend was found in the Weibull characteristic strength (S0) of the test methods. The biaxial flexural test method is thus a valid test of the flexural strength of dental hard resins.

Influence of different surface treatments on bond strength of novel CAD/CAM restorative materials to resin cement.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of different surface treatments on the bond strength of novel CAD/CAM restorative materials to resin cement by four point bending test. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The CAD/CAM materials under investigation were e.max CAD, Mark II, Lava Ultimate, and Enamic. A total of 400 bar specimens (4×1.2×12 mm) (n=10) milled from the CAD/CAM blocks underwent various pretreatments (no pretreatment (C), hydrofluoric acid (A), hydrofluoric acid + universal adhesive (Scotchbond) (AS), sandblasting (Sb), and sandblasting + universal adhesive (SbS)). The bars were luted end-to-end on the prepared surfaces with a dual curing adhesive resin cement (Variolink N, Ivoclar Vivadent) on the custom-made stainless steel mold. Ten test specimens for each treatment and material combination were performed with four point bending test method. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey's test. RESULTS: The surface treatment and type of CAD/CAM restorative material showed a significant effect on the four point bending strength (FPBS) (P<.001). For LDC, AS surface treatment showed the highest FPBS results (100.31 ± 10.7 MPa) and the lowest values were obtained in RNC (23.63 ± 9.0 MPa) for control group. SEM analyses showed that the surface topography of CAD/CAM restorative materials was modified after treatments. CONCLUSION: The surface treatment of sandblasting or HF acid etching in combination with a universal adhesive containing MDP can be suggested for the adhesive cementation of the novel CAD/CAM restorative materials.

Influence of surface treatment on the resin-bonding of zirconia.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of various surface treatments on the bonding of luting resin cements to zirconia under four-point bending. METHODS: Bar specimens (n = 200) (2 mm × 5 mm × 25 mm) were prepared from zirconia blocks (VITA In-Ceram YZ, Vita Zahnfabrik) with the cementation surface (2 mm × 5 mm) of groups of 40 treated in one of five ways: airborne particle abrasion with 50µm Al2O3 (GB), zirconia primer (Z-Prime Plus, Bisco) (Z), glaze ceramic (Crystall.Glaze spray, Ivoclar Vivadent) + hydrofluoric acid (GHF), fusion glass-ceramic (Crystall.Connect, Ivoclar Vivadent) (CC), or left untreated as control (C). Within each treatment, bars were cleaned ultrasonically for 15 min in ethanol and then deionized water before bonding in pairs with one of two luting resins: Panavia F 2.0, (Kuraray) (P); RelyX U-200 (3M/Espe) (R), to form 10 test specimens for each treatment and lute combination. Mechanical tests were performed and bond strengths (MPa) were subject, after log transformation, to analysis of variance, Shapiro-Wilk and Holm-Sidak tests; also log-linear contingency analysis of failure mode distribution; all with α = 0.05. Fracture surfaces were examined under light and scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS: While the effect of surface treatment was significant (p = 1.27 × 10(-9)), there was no detected effect due to resin (p = 0.829). All treatments except CC (30.1 MPa ×/÷ 1.44)* were significantly better than the untreated control (24.8 MPa ×/÷ 1.35) (p = 3.28 × 10(-9)). While the effect of GB - which gave the highest mean strength (50.5 MPa ×/÷ 1.29) - was not distinguishable from that of GHF (39.9 MPa ×/÷ 1.29) (p = 0.082), it was significantly better than treatment with either CC or Z (33.1 MPa ×/÷ 1.48) (p < 0.05). (* After log transformation for analysis and back; asymmetric error bounds as s.d. in log values.) SIGNIFICANCE: The novel test method design, which has good discriminatory power, confirmed the value of gritblasting as a simple and effective treatment with low operator hazard. It gave the highest bond strengths regardless of the cement type. Glaze layer application followed by hydrofluoric acid-etching on zirconia before cementation might be viable for adhesive zirconia cementation, but represents a much greater hazard as well as having problems with thickness control.