Modelos computacionais para análise da influência de parâmetros estatísticos de textura superficial no contato dentário humano

Abstract

Tooth wear, which manifests with a great variety of degrees or levels, is one of the dental abnormalities commonly found in different populations. The computational modelling of the occlusal contact problem can help the comprehension of any interaction between teeth generating stress concentration. The approach used in this work to simulate contact between rough surfaces, given the probability density functions of asperities, consists in discretizing them in several intervals, so that each one represents a main asperity. The deformations of the main asperities are analyzed and, using homogenization techniques, it is possible to developed the relationship among the responses occurred in micro-scale and the predicted responses in macro-scale. In this work a routine has been established for numerical generation of surfaces, a script as well as has been coupled to the finite element program Abaqus, for analysis of the micro-contacts, and, finally, a code for homogenization and parametric analysis of the roughness measure. In the estimate of the surface hardness it was found that the mean curvature of the asperities exerts the largest influence. The parameters that influence the forces and contact areas are the flattening coefficient (kurtosis), which when increases leads to decay of these greatness, followed by the mean square roughness, which, in turn, has a direct proportional relationship with the strength and consequently with the contact area.