MECHANICAL

PROPERTIES

BASIC SCIENCES FOR DENTAL

MATERIALS
LECTURE # 2
Dr rabia anwar
• Force
• Force, in physics, any action or
influence that accelerates an object
• Characteristics of force
• Point of application of force
• Direction of application
• Magnitude
• Unit of force
• Newton (N)
• Occlusal Force
• Ranges from 200 to 3500 N
• Molars :- 400-800 N
• Bicuspid Cuspid & incisor :-
300,200,150 N
• These forces keep on changing with
growth
Stress & Strain
• Stress
• Stress is the force per unit cross-sectional area
that is acting on a material.
• Stress , is given by
 = F/A
Force =F
• Units of stress are
N/m2 or Pa
• Strain
• Is the fractional change in the dimensions
L0 L1
caused by the force
• Strain ,e is given by
e =(L1-L0)/L0

Area=A
Principal types of stress
Principal types of stress
Principal types of stress (Tension)

Universal testing machine

 Principal types of stress
(Tension)

Flexural Strength of Selected

Bending of the beam resulting in
Dental Materials
both compressive  and tensile
stress 
Compressive Strength

• Ratio of compressive force

to cross sectional area
perpendicular to axis of
applied force.
• Compressive Strength:
compressive stress within a
compression test specimen
at the point of fracture
Complex stress pattern developed
in cylinder subjected to
compressive stress. Compressive
stress (SC), Shear stress (SS),
Tensile stress (ST)
Compressive Strength

Compressive Strength of Selected Dental Materials

 Strength of a material
• Is defined as the average level of stress at which a
material exhibits a certain amount of initial plastic
deformation or at which fracture occurs in test
specimens of the same shape and size.
• The strength is dependent on several factors :
(1) strain rate .
(2) The shape of the test specimen.
(3) The surface finish .
(4) The environment in which a material is tested.
 Elastic deformation Vs plastic
deformation
• Elastic deformation
• It can be defined as a
deformation which can be
recovered after the stress is
removed
• Plastic deformation
• It can be defined as a
deformation which can not
be recovered after the stress
is removed
STRESS &
STRAIN CURVE
Stress –Strain Curves
Practical Utilization Of The Stress
Strain Curve (Tensile force)

Plotting stress-strain curves. A, Stress-strain curve for a material

subjected to tensile stress. Specimens illustrate amount of deformation
at each point (A-D). B, Elastic deformation is exhibited up to the
proportional limit (PL) and plastic deformation is exhibited from PL to
the failure point (FP).
• Young’s Modulus
• It is a constant that relates the stress and the strain in
the linear elastic region, and is a measure of the
stiffness or resistance of the material.
• young’s Modulus = stress/ strain
• Unit = Gigapascal (GPa)
• Also known as elastic modulus, or modulus of elasticity
stress

Young’s modulus

strain
Elastic Modulus (GPa) of Selected
Dental Materials
• Proportional limit
• Is defined as the stress above
which stress is no longer
proportional to strain.
• Can also be defined as a limit to
which a metal can bear a load
without deforming
permanently.
• Below this point there is no
permanent deformation.
• Elastic limit
• The maximum stress a material
can withstand before it become
plastically deformed.
• Yield strength or proof stress
• The stress required to produce a given amount of plastic
strain
• Is a point beyond which strain are not fully
recovered.
• It is different for different materials
• Brittle material :- high yield strength
• Ductile material :-low yield strength
Brittle and Ductile Materials

Brittle materials Ductile Materials

 Practical Utilization Of The Stress Strain
Curve
• Resilience
• May be defined as the energy
absorbed by a material in
undergoing elastic deformation up
to the elastic limit.

• Toughness
• Can be defined as the total amount
of energy which a material can
absorb up to the point of fracture.
Practical Utilization Of The Stress
Strain Curve

Schematic of different
types of deformation in
brittle (glass, steel file)
and ductile (copper)
materials of the same
diameter and having a
notch of the same
dimensions.

Craig ,13th , Page 42

• Ultimate tensile strength, shear strength,
compressive strength.
• Is a measure of stress required to fracture a material.
• Is the maximum stress that the specimen can
withstand
• Is often different from the point of fracture

UTS

stress

strain
 Practical Utilization Of The Stress Strain
Curve
• Ductility : the ability of a material to sustain a
Ductility : the ability of a material to sustain a
large permanent deformation under a tensile load
before it fractures.
• Example, a metal that can be drawn readily into a long,
thin wire is considered to be ductile.
• Malleability: The ability of a material to sustain
considerable permanent deformation without
rupture under compression, as in hammering or
rolling into a sheet.
• Gold is the most ductile and malleable pure metal, and
silver is second of the metals of interest to the dentist,
platinum ranked third in ductility, and copper ranks
third in malleability.
 Significance of stress strain curve for the
characterisation of the materials

Rigid, strong, tough and ductile material Flexible, tough

Rigid, strong, brittle;

Significance of stress strain curve for the
characterisation of the materials …

Rigid, weak, brittle Flexible, weak, brittle

Flexible, resilient.
MECHANICAL
PROPERTIES
 Fatigue Properties
• Fatigue is defined as a
progressive fracture under
repeated loading.
• Fatigue tests are performed by
subjecting a specimen to
alternating stress applications
below the yield strength until
fracture occurs.
Flexural fatigue curve for a cobalt-chromium-
• Tensile, compressive, shear, nickel alloy used for partial dentures.

bending, and torsional fatigue

tests can all be performed.

Page 12, 2
 Fatigue Properties…
• Fatigue life
If a force of a given magnitude and
frequency is applied on a sample,
then the number of the cycles
required to cause the fracture are
called as fatigue life.

• Fatigue limit
it is the number of cyclic stress
required to cause a fracture.

Page 12, 2
Fatigue Properties …
 Hardness Testing
• Hardness testing is done by applying a standardized
force or weight to an indenter.
• This produces a symmetrically shaped indentation.

Vickers test scheme

Hardness Testing
• That can be measured
under a microscope for
depth, area, or width of
the indentation produced.
• The indentation
A Vickers hardness tester
dimensions are then
related to tabulated
hardness values.

An indentation left after a Vickers

hardness test
 Hardness …
• With a fixed load applied to
a standardized indenter, the
dimensions of the
A, Knoop hardness
indentation vary inversely measurement.
with the resistance to
penetration of the material
tested.
1. Brinell Hardness Test
2. Knoop Hardness Test
3. Vickers Hardness Test
4. Rockwell Hardness Test
5. Barcol Hardness Test B. Pyramid (Vickers)
6. Shore A Hardness Test indentation test.
 Hardness …

A, Indentation in soft material. B, Indentation in harder

material. C, Microscopic view of indentations.
 Hardness …

Shapes of hardness indenter points (upper row) and the indentation

depressions left in material surfaces (lower row). The measured
dimension M that is shown for each test is used to calculate hardness.

Phillips page 97 11th edit

 Hardness …
Material VHS
Enamel 350

Dentine 60

Acrylic resin 20

Dental amalgam 100

Porcelian 450

Co/Cr alloy 420

Vickers hardness numbers of some selected dental

materials and tooth structure
Hardness …
• Poisson Ratio
If a test piece is loaded in tension or
compression, then, in directions
perpendicular to the load axis,
corresponding lateral strains will
appear.
Tensile force contraction
Compressive force expansion Tensile force

Compressive force
RHEOLOGY
 Rheology
Rheological properties are related to the time
dependent deformation of a material under an
applied stress, which in turn also depends on the
magnitude and rate of applied stresses.

• Deformation may be elastic, which would recover

after the removal of the force.
• It may be a permanent deformation.
 Hooke’s law
A perfectly elastic material obeys Hooke’s law,
according to which when an applied stress is
removed the material returns to its original state.
For example, if shear stress τ is applied to a spring
for some time t1 and then removed the spring
will return to its original position.

Instant Deformation

Strain

Instant Recovery

t0 Time
t1
 Hooke’s law …
If it is a shear stress then Hooke’s law can be
given by the following equation:

γ (t) =
τ
G
 Newton’s law of viscosity
In the case of a viscous medium, Newton’s law
of viscosity explains its behaviour and such a
medium is called a Newtonian
fluid/medium.
 Newton’s law of viscosity ..
For example, if shear stress τ is applied on a piston for
some time t in a dashpot, filled with a Newtonian
fluid with a viscosity of η: on removal of the applied
stress the piston will not move back to its original
position, resulting in permanent or plastic
deformation.

Strain

Linear Strain
Permanent Deformation

t0 t1
Time
Newton’s law of viscosity ..

τ
γ(t) = .t
η
 Viscoelasticity
Materials usually can be classified as either
viscous or elastic, but this can only be truly
applied to substances such as water and steel,
respectively; whereas all other materials lie
in-between.
Most biomaterials used in dentistry lie in-
between elastic and viscous materials and are
called viscoelastic materials, i.e:
whenever stress is applied, some part of it is
stored within the material (elastic response)
while the other part is dissipated as heat
(viscous response).
 Viscoelasticity
Such a material which shows a combination of
viscous and elastic response can be explained
with the help of :
• Maxwell model (close to the behaviour of a real
liquid)
• Kelvin-Voigt Model (close to a real solid)
 Maxwell Model
A Maxwell model is a simple combination of a
spring and a dashpot in series.
 Maxwell Model ..
When shear stress τ is applied to the system at time to,
the system shows an immediate elastic response due
to extension of the spring, followed by a slow time
dependent viscous response by the movement of the
piston in the dashpot.

Strain

Viscous response (Dash pot)

Elastic Response (spring)

t0 t1
Time
 Kelvin-Voigt Model
Spring and dashpot are arranged in parallel and the extension of
the spring depends on the movement of the piston in the
cylinder, which in turn depends on the viscosity of the liquid.
So any applied stress is shared between the two components of
the model. When stress is applied on this mechanical model,
the extension of the spring corresponds with the movement
of the piston.
 Kelvin-Voigt Model ..
In other words, no strain occurs instantly, it needs time
for the movement of the piston against the viscous
fluid in the cylinder, and similarly on the removal of
the stress the recovery is slow. However, in this
model recovery is complete as there is a stored
energy in the spring which causes the returning back
of the piston in the cylinder

Strain

t0 t1
Time
 Creep & Flow
• In creep relatively
small deformation
produced by a
relatively large stress
over a long period of
time

• In flow a greater
deformation produced
more rapidly with a
smaller applied force.
 Rheological Properties ..
• It is applicable to both solids and liquids.
• For solids → creep and viscoelasticity
• For liquids → viscosity
• Viscosity (η) is given by

η = shear stress/ shear rate

Shear stress = pressure required to Plunger Pressure=P

press it speed= Q

Shear rate = flow rate

viscosity =K P/Q
 Viscosity …
• Low viscosity = low pressure  high flow
rate
• High viscosity = high pressure low flow
rate
• Shear stress = K (shear rate )n
• Where
• K = constant
• n = flow index
• Newtonian fluids
• n=1
• Shear stress α shear rate
• Viscosity is constant at all shear rate
• E.g. water, mineral oils
• Pseudoplastic fluids
• n < unity
• No measureable yield point, so
flow can occur at any stress
• Increase in shear rate without
increase in shear stress
• E.g. Polymers, adhesives and
suspensions.
• Dilatant fluids
• n > unity
Shear diagrams of Newtonian, pseudo
• Increase in viscosity with an plastic, and dilatants liquids.
increase in strain rate (The viscosity is show n by the slope of the curve at a
given shear rate.)
 Dilatant fluids ..
• E.g. silicone products, pastes with higher
filler loadings. Resin composites.
• In these materials increase in shear rate
results in inter locking of the particles and
they will increase the viscosity of the
medium.
 Time-dependence of viscosity
Many materials used in dentistry involve the mixing
of two components, thus initiating a chemical
reaction which causes the material to change from a
fluid to a rigid solid or elastomer.
 Time-dependence of viscosity
( working time)
• Working time refers to the time after which the
material cannot be manipulated without
creating distortion in the final product.
OR
• Manipulation becomes impossible when
viscosity has increased beyond a certain
point. The time taken to reach that point is
the working time of the material
 Time-dependence of viscosity
( working time)
• For curve A; The
material may become
unmanageable when it
reaches a viscosity value
of V1, thus the material
has a working time of
T1 .
• For curve B; viscosity
does not begin to
increase until the time
T2 and the viscosity has
not reached V1 until the
time T3.
 Time-dependence of viscosity
(Setting time)
It can be defined as the time taken for the
material to reach its final set state or to
develop properties which are considered
adequate for that application.

• For alginate, it is the time when can be withdrawn

without distortion or tearing.
• For gypsum, it is the time when it can be separated
from the impression without fracture.
Assessment of setting time

A: Material is unset
B: Material is set
The End