TENSILE, SHEAR AND CLEAVAGE BOND STRENGTHS OF ALGINATE ADHESIVE

Objectives. This study determined the effect of alginate adhesive on v arious bond strengths of alginate to stainless steel. Methods. Three t est assemblies were designed and machined in stainless steel for tensi on, shear and cleavage tests. Alginate adhesive (Fix(TM)) was applied thinly and dried for 5 min. Alginate (Blueprint(TM)) was then loaded a nd allowed to set for 5 min before testing. The force at failure was m easured by an Instron machine with a cross-head speed of 50 mm min(-1) . Results. Breaking stresses of alginate without adhesive were found t o be 65 kPa (tension), 31 kPa (shear) and 10 kPa (cleavage). The bond strengths of Blueprint with Fix were 100 kPa (tension), 42 kPa (shear) and 37 kPa (cleavage) giving improvements of 53%, 37% and 270% respec tively (p < 0.05). Conclusions. Alginate adhesive increases the bond s trength of alginate, particularly cleavage, to stainless steel. (C) 19 98 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.