Comparative Fatigue Analysis of Zirconia and Titanium Dental Implants with Varying Thread Designs
摘要
This study presents a comprehensive fatigue analysis of dental implants, focusing on the combined effects of thread geometry and material type on mechanical performance and fatigue life. The implants were modeled using CAD software and analyzed through finite element analysis (FEA) with ANSYS, following ISO 14801 standards. Two widely used biomaterials titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4 V) and yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (Y-TZP) were considered, along with different thread configurations: triangular and trapezoidal, and two thread angles (20° and 30°) for each material. A masticatory force of 118.2 N was applied at a 15° inclination with a fixed support to simulate physiological loading. The results of the static analysis indicate that triangular thread designs are prone to higher peak stresses (up to 290 MPa), especially at the thread edges, while trapezoidal threads significantly reduce stress concentrations (216 MPa) due to their larger contact surface and improved load distribution. Fatigue analysis reveals that trapezoidal threaded implants offer more then 4.7 times greater fatigue life than triangular ones. In terms of material specific performance, Y-TZP implants with a 30° thread angle exhibited lower maximum principal stress and better fatigue resistance than the 20° variant. Conversely, titanium implants with a 20° thread angle outperformed the 30° model, showing lower Von Mises stress and longer fatigue life.