Comparison of Some Mechanical Properties of Silanated SiO2 and Polyester Fiber Composite Incorporation into Heat Cured Acrylic Resin.

Background: improving polymethylemethacrylate (PMMA) resin properties is the challenge nowadays, this can be done by adding several forms and types of nano- and micro-particles to the powder or to the monomer , the aims of the study is to investigate some mechanical properties of the acrylic resin after the addition of SiO2 nano-particles in combination with polyester fibers. Materials and Methods: The research includes 160 samples divided into four groups, four tests investigated in the study: Transverse flexural strength, impact strength, surface hardness and surface roughness (n=10). Group I is the control (No addition), group II with the addition of SiO2 5% by wt. nano-particles, group III in which polyester fibers 3% by wt., 6 mm length added and group IV contains a combination of SiO2 5% by wt. nano-particles and polyester fibers 3% by wt., 6 mm length. The data analyzed by ANOVA Table and multiple comparison post hoc Tukey’s tests. Results: Show that a mark increase in the impact and flexural strength when combination of 5% by wt. silanated SiO2 and 3% by wt. and 6 mm length polyester fiber incorporated into PMMA resin; while flexural strength and surface hardness tests show that there was no significant differences among the groups after ANOVA Table inferential statistical analysis application. Surface roughness comparison among the groups revealed that group containing silanated SiO2 only gives the highest rough surface while group containing polyester fiber only shows the lowest value of roughness. Conclusion: Within the limitation of this study, incorporation of silanated SiO2 and polyester fiber combinations in a significant weight and fiber length lead to enhancement in the impact and flexural strength of PMMA resins and with no or little effect on the surface hardness and roughness properties.