Mechanical and Numerical Analysis of Polymer-Natural Fiber Composites for Denture Applications

Abstract

Removable complete dentures are still a therapy of choice for a variety of medical professionals and patients even in an era of implant and fix prostheses. This article focuses on comparing complete dentures manufactured using various denture base materials. Heat-cured polymethylmethacrylate, used for prosthetic complete denture composites, was blended separately with Polyamide (PA) type 6 and Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) type K30. These blends were prepared with various weight fractions (0%, 2%, 4%, and 6%) and reinforced with sisal and coconut powders, each added individually with varying weight fractions (2%, 4%, and 6%). The tensile test was carried out to achieve tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and elongation percentage values. The numerical part depends on the Finite Element Method (FEM), conducted by using Ansys Workbench-2020 R2. According to the experimental data, the tensile strength, elastic modulus, and elongation of polymer blends increase at a 2% weight fraction of PA and PVP particles, and then decrease with higher PA and PVP particles' weight fraction. However, they decrease with increasing weight fraction of coconut and sisal particles. The highest tensile strength and elastic modulus are 86 MPa and 2.531 GPa, respectively, for PMMA-2% PA, and the greatest elongation percentage is 5.28% for PMMA-2% PVP. These findings lead to the conclusion that the addition of polymer blend materials to PMMA resin is a promising approach for improving tensile properties in applications such as complete or partial denture bases, addressing an ongoing challenge