Case Study: The Open University achieves optimized mouthguard cushioning and support insights with ANSYS Structural

The Open University - Customer Case Study

The Open University investigated how sports mouthguards protect teeth and surrounding tissue, addressing a lack of rigorous criteria for comparing cushioning versus support under varying impact conditions. Using ANSYS Structural software from ANSYS, researchers set out to model complex biomaterial behavior and impact parameters (peak force, loading time, contact area) to better understand the mechanisms that govern mouthguard performance.

Using finite‑element analysis, the team combined a 2-D axisymmetric explicit FEA to predict impact forces with 3-D ANSYS Structural simulations (cantilever beam tooth models, mouthguard layers, detailed meshes and contact elements) to compute tooth displacements and stresses. ANSYS-enabled results showed that very stiff guards give the best support under fixed loads but that a soft coating yields superior cushioning when impact variability is considered, providing quantitative insight into optimal modulus and thickness and informing improved design, testing and standards for mouthguards.

The Open University

Niall Paterson

Department of Materials Engineering