To begin, launch the Ansys software to import the material parameters of the maxillary complex model into the software. Next, click and drag the static structural in the toolbox to create an analysis workspace. Double click on engineering data, followed by linear elastic under toolbox, and set the Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio for all the materials in properties.
Now, double click on geometry, followed by file, then select import external geometry file, and click generate to import the maxillary complex model. Then click create, followed by Boolean, and generate the cortical and periodontal ligament Boolean with cancellous bone and teeth. To set up the finite element analysis model, double click on the model, then select geometry to determine the material properties for each part.
Next, right click on mesh and press generate mesh to build the model elements. Now, click connections and assign the soft or small part in contact bodies, and the stiff or large part in target bodies, then assign the contact type and friction coefficient in definition. Next, right click connections and select insert, then press spring to connect the upper and lower parts of the osteotomy plane.
Set the springs to one millimeter length with a spring constant K set at 60 newtons per millimeter. Place one spring at each grid node. After setting a clinically acceptable force along the X axis, right click the static structural option.
Press insert, followed by fixed support to render the structure on the palatal plane as immovable. To apply force on the acrylic plate away from the medial line, click on static structural, then insert and set the force to 150 newtons. Then right click solution followed by insert, deformation, and total to monitor the expansion deformation.
Finally, to carry out a convergence test, select solve in the toolbars and wait until the force convergence level reaches the force criterion. Then click on solution information, followed by total deformation to display the expansion results. The demonstrated model used the cone beam computed tomography image of a 47-year-old female with maxillary deficiency to create a model.
For accurate surgery simulation, the naval septum, lateral nasal cavity walls, and pterygo-maxillary fissure were separated. A preliminary test performed on both the left and right sides of the model with symmetric, zero degree cuts, showed that 150 newtons of force caused more than eight millimeters of expansion. Additionally, a variety of angles were built to mimic different clinical conditions.
The right and left expansions were visible as a before and after color map of the maxilla models.
