Fatigue Analysis of NiTi Rotary Endodontic Files through Finite Element Simulation: Effect of Root Canal Geometry on Fatigue Life

This article describes a numerical procedure for estimating the fatigue life of NiTi endodontic rotary files. An enhanced finite element model reproducing the interaction of the endodontic file rotating inside the root canal was developed, which includes important phenomena that allowed increasing the degree of realism of the simulation. A method based on the critical plane approach was proposed for extracting significant strain results from finite element analysis, which were used in combination with the Coffin–Manson relation to predict the fatigue life of the NiTi rotary files. The proposed procedure is illustrated with several numerical examples in which different combinations of endodontic rotary files and root canal geometries were investigated. By using these analyses, the effect of the radius of curvature and the angle of curvature of the root canal on the fatigue life of the rotary files was analysed. The results confirm the significant influence of the root canal geometry on the fatigue life of the NiTi rotary files and reveal the higher importance of the radius of curvature with respect to the angle of curvature of the root canal.

Early Crack Propagation in Single Tooth Bending Fatigue: Combination of Finite Element Analysis and Critical-Planes Fatigue Criteria

Mechanical components, such as gears, are usually subjected to variable loads that induce multiaxial non-proportional stress states, which in turn can lead to failure due to fatigue. However, the material properties are usually available in the forms of bending or shear fatigue limits. Multiaxial fatigue criteria can be used to bridge the gap between the available data and the actual loading conditions. However, different criteria could lead to different results. The main goal of this paper is to evaluate the accuracy of different criteria applied to real mechanical components. With respect to this, five different criteria based on the critical plane concept (i.e., Findley, Matake, McDiarmid, Papadopoulos, and Susmel) have been investigated. These criteria were selected because they not only assess the level of damage, but also predict the direction of crack propagation just after nucleation. Therefore, measurements (crack position and direction) on different fractured gear samples tested via Single Tooth Bending Fatigue (STBF) tests on two gear geometries were used as reference. The STBF configuration was numerically simulated via Finite Elements (FE) analyses. The results of FE were elaborated based on the above-mentioned criteria. The numerical results were compared with the experimental ones. The result of the comparison showed that all the fatigue criteria agree in identifying the most critical point. The Findley and Papadopulus criteria proved to be the most accurate in estimating the level of damage. The Susmel criterion turns out to be the most conservative one. With respect to the identification of the direction of early propagation of the crack, the Findley criterion revealed the most appropriate.

The Three Controlling Modes of Failure in Homogeneous and Isotropic Materials With Proof Thereof Through Critical Plane Stress Conditions

The recently developed general materials failure theory is specialized to the two-dimensional state of plane stress. It takes a form that is virtually no more involved than that of the Mises criterion. Yet it remains applicable to the entire range of materials types and thus retains that generality. The Mises form has absolutely no capability for generality. This plane stress form of the new failure theory reveals the existence of three independent modes and mechanisms of failure, not two, not four, purely three. The Mises criterion has one mode of failure. These three modes of failure are fully examined. It is verified that these modes of failure under plane stress conditions are exactly the same as those operative in the three-dimensional case. The simple plane stress form of the failure theory has major appeal and likely use as a teaching tool to introduce failure and to help de-mystify the vitally important general subject of materials failure.