Slow crack propagation in composite restorative materials.

The double-torsion test technique was used to study slow crack propagation in a set of dental composite resins including two glass-filled and two microfilled materials. The microstructure within each pair was the same but one of the resins was selfcured and the other photocured. The fracture behavior was dependent on the filler concentration and the presence of absorbed water. Wet materials fractured by slow crack growth in the range of crack velocity studied (10(-7) to 10(-3) m/s), and the microfilled composites, which contain a lower concentration of inorganic filler, had lower stress intensity factors (K1c) than the glass-filled composites tested. Dry specimens of the microfilled materials and the selfcured, glass-filled composite also showed unstable, stick-slip fracture behavior indicative of a crack blunting mechanism which leads to an elevation of the stress intensity factor for crack initiation over K1c for stable crack growth. The plasticizing effect of water increased the viscoelastic response of the materials measured by the slope of curves of slow crack growth. Analysis of fracture surfaces showed that cracks propagated at low velocities (10(-7) to 10(-5) m/s) by the apparent failure of the filler/matrix interfacial bond, and absorbed water affected the strength or fracture resistance of the interface. At high crack velocities the properties of the composite depend on the properties of the polymeric matrix, the filler, and the filler volume fraction, but at low velocities the interface is the controlling factor in the durability of these composites exposed to an aqueous environment.