Dynamic viscoelastic behavior of dental composites measured by Split Hopkinson pressure bar

The present study evaluated the dynamic viscoelastic behavior of commercially available dental composites by a Split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) test machine. Five commercially available composite resins--namely, two conventional hybrid composites (Filtek Z100, Z100; Filtek Z250, Z250), a packable composite (Filtek P60, P60), a flowable composite (Filtek Flow, FL), and a nanofill composite (Filtek Supreme, SU)--were evaluated. By means of SHPB technique, the dynamic stress-strain curve, storage modulus, and loss tangent of the five dental composites were calculated. All specimens exhibited a nonlinear stress-strain curve in the loading process, which resulted not only from the viscoelasticity--but also from the plasticity--of matrix. In terms of storage modulus, no significant differences were exhibited among the five dental composites (p > 0.05). In terms of loss tangent, Z100 showed a significantly higher value than P60, FL, and SU (p < 0.05). Within the limitations of this investigation using SHPB, it was indicated that the loss tangent increased with increasing filler content.