PERBEDAAN KEKUATAN KOMPRESI ANTARA FIBER REINFORCED COMPOSITE DENGAN FIBER SISAL (Agave sisalana) TERALKALISASI DAN NON-ALKALISASI

Fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) is a material composed of a matrix and a reinforcing fiber. The fiber widely used for the manufacture of fixed partial dentures is a synthetic one. Sisal (Agave sisalana) fiber is used as a reinforcing material on FRC, for it is cheap and it comes from the renewable resources. Alkalization on sisal fiber can increase adhesion between the fiber and matrix. This can increase the mechanical strength of the FRC. The purpose of this research was to explore the difference between the compressive strength of the FRC with alkalized sisal fiber and that of the FRC with non-alkalized sisal fiber. The material of this research was FRC with matrix consisting of flowable composite resin (Master Flow, Brazil), sisal fiber (Balittas, Malang), and 5% NaOH solution. The research sample which was the FRC with sisal fiber (cylindrical, 8mm height, 4mm internal diameter) was cured using a light curing unit for 20 seconds. The number of the samples was 8 and they were divided into two group