The steady-state creep behavior of dental amalgam

Th e steadys ta te c ree p be ha vi or of a de nt al a malga m subjected to te n s il e stresses of 500 to 4000 ps i (3.4 X 10 6 to 2.8 X 10' N/ m t) was in ves tiga ted ove r th e te m pera ture ra nge of 23 to 52 C (296 to 325 K). It was found th a t th e c ree p be hav ior ca n be re presen ted by th e eq u ati on: EI' = Kcr lll e -h'/ UT whe re ~. is th e creep ra te, K an d Tn a re co nsta nts of th e mate ri al, (T is th e stress, E is th e acti va ti o n e ne rgy for th e process, R IS th e gas co ns ta nt a nd T is th e te m pera tu re. Valu es of th e co nsta nt s de ter. min ed fo r th e de nt al a malga m were K = 2.3 1 X 10", III = 3 .45 a nd E = 35,300 ca l/mo l (148,000 joul e/ mole).