Confined compression of dental composites for Class I restorations.

This study focuses on the mechanical response of a particle-reinforced restorative dental composite (Renew™) under proportional transverse confinement to understand the effects of stress multiaxiality on its mechanical and failure behaviors. We describe the confining ring technique as an experimental tool to introduce multiaxial compressive stress states in dental composites that realistically mimic three-dimensional stress states commonly experienced by dental restorations in the oral cavity. Effect of initial radial misfit between confining ring and specimen is analyzed through computational finite element simulations, and an analytical treatment of problem is also provided to compute the confining stress during elasto-plastic expansion of confining ring. Experimental results suggest that inelastic response of Renew composite is significantly influenced by hydrostatic stress component, and pressure-dependent yield functions are required to analyze plastic deformations and internal damage accumulation process.