Setting expansion of investment

and accuracy of castings

L. S t e v e n s
Department of Restorative Dentistry, University
of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Stevens L. Setting expansion of investment and accuracy of castings. Dent

Mater 1988: 4: 367-370.
Abstract - Setting expansion of 4 phosphate-bonded investments was measured
under 3 different conditions: a hygroscopic condition, a condition using a ring
lined with a wet liner and a condition using a ring lined with a dry liner.
Accuracy of castings of a Ni-Cr alloy made in each of the 4 investments in rings
lined with a wet liner was measured. One investment exhibited negative
potential for hygroscopic expansion. Expansion of all investments in wet-lined
rings was not significantly different from their expansion under the hygroscopic
condition. There was no significant difference in setting expansion between the
investments when a wet liner was used. Significant differences in accuracy
existed between castings produced in the different investments using a wet
liner. The correlation between the setting expansion of the investments using a
wet liner and the accuracy of castings produced using a wet liner was not high
and was not significant. Comparison between investments with regard to their
ability to produce accurate castings in terms of mould expansion by
measurement of setting expansion is of no value.

In dental casting practice, rigid casting

rings are lined with one material or another to varying degrees of thickness
and frequently made wet before investing the pattern. The amount of water
available for interaction with a setting
investment would therefore vary according to the nature of the lining material and its thickness. Water available
from a liner could affect the setting expansion of a phosphate-bonded investment (1) and possibly affect the accuracy of the casting in terms of mould
expansion. Therefore, it was decided to
investigate the setting expansion of 4
phosphate-bonded investments under 3
conditions: under a hygroscopic condition, using a wet liner and using a dry
liner. In addition, setting expansion using a wet liner was related to the accuracy of castings made in each of the 4
investments using a wet liner.

Material a n d m e t h o d s

Setting expansion.

The 4 phosphatebonded investments*g*w were mixed

* Ceramigold, Whip-Mix, Louisville, KY,
USA.
t BegoRal, Bego, Bremen, FRG.
* Ceravest, G-C International, Tokyo, Japan.
Deguvest, Degussa, Frankfurt, FRG.

with their undiluted special liquids 15 s

by hand and 60 s in a vacuum mixing
machineIIusing the recommended P(g)/
L(ml) ratios of 6.3, 5.7, 4.2 and 6.7,
respectively. Room temperature was
22-23~
A dial gauge ~ method
(adapted from Jorgensen (2)) was used
to measure setting expansion under 3
different conditions.
Mixes were placed in a poly-vinylchloride (PVC) ring (37 mm internal
diameter, 41 mm long) split on one side
along its length, secured in a closed
position with a hose clip, lined with one
layer of cellulose** and seated on a
glass plate. The ring was filled to a
depth of about 30 mm. When the mix
was at a certain consistency the dial
gauge was activated by pressing its anvil against the mix. The value registered decreased until the setting investment had sufficient viscosity to equal
the pressure applied by the dial gauge.
At this time a "dwell" period occurred
before expansion commenced. The dial
gauge reading at the dwell period was
taken as the zero point for expansion.
The measuring pressure was approximately 12.5 kPa.
Setting expansion was determined
II Vac-u-spat, Whip-Mix.
82Carl Mahr, Esslingen, FRG.
**Whip-Mix.

Key words: phosphate bonded investment,

setting expansion, casting accuracy.
L. Stevens, University of Queensland,
Department of Restorative Dentistry, Dental
School, Turbot Street, Brisbane, Queensland
4000, Australia.
Received June 12; accepted December 23,
1987.

with a dry liner (D), with a wet liner

(W) and with a wet liner together with
the addition of demineralized water to
the space in the ring above the surface
of the mix (H). The water was added
immediately after the zero point was
established. After 10 h for Ceramigold,
4 h for Ceravest and 2 h for BegoRal
and Deguvest, to ensure that setting
expansion was completed (3), each
specimen was removed from the split
PVC ring, measured and expansion was
expressed as a percentage of the original length. Five measurements were
made for each of the 4 investments under each of the 3 different conditions.
Accuracy of castings. The accuracy of
castings made from a Ni-Crt* alloy in
each of the phosphate-bonded investments was measured. A stainless steel
cylindrical rod terminating in a truncated cone at one end and a cylindrical
base at the other and incorpdrating a
recess adjacent to the base (Fig. la)
was used for the construction of wax
patterns. The surfaces arrowed (Fig.
lb, c) A, A ' , C and C' were flat and at
a right angle to the long axis of the rod.
Wax** patterns were made by dipping
the truncated cone into molten wax and
trimming the solidified wax in the same
tt Biobond II, Dentsply, York, PA, USA.
** Corning Rubber, New York, NY, USA.

368

L. Stevens
A I

,.q'

B'
I

-C'

F
(a)

(b)

(c)

Fig. 1.a. Diagram of stainless steel cylindrical rod. Truncated cone used to form wax ring
patterns, 5 mm base used to attach rod to a "V" block so that the truncated cone and that
part of the rod including part of the recess projected horizontally beyond the "V" block, b.
Diagram of profile of the projecting rod with loose-fitting casting in place. The difference
between the mean of lengths A-C and A'-C' and the mean of lengths B-C and B'-C' (of the
4 possible profiles, each length measured 5 times) was taken as the positive discrepancy of a
casting, c. Diagram of profile of the projecting rod with tight-fitting casting in place. The
discrepancy (measured as in b) was termed negative.

plane as the truncated end of the cone.

The length of each ring pattern so
formed was adjusted at the opposite
end so that each was approximately the
same. The patterns were approximately
equal in thickness. A wax sprue was
bent to allow the pattern to be orientated with its long axis in the central
long axis of the casting ring and attached. After spruing, each pattern was
stress relieved by placing in water at
30~ for 15 rain, replacing on the cone
and resurfacing at the truncated end.
Each pattern was scribed with a mark
in a position opposite a mark on the
base of the cone to allow relocation of
the casting.
Three wax patterns were invested in
each of the investments in an inlay ring
lined with one layer of wet cellulose
liner. The investments were mixed as
for the setting expansion measurements. Burnout was commenced t0 h
after investing for Ceramigold and 4 h
after investing for the other investments. All moulds were heated to
350~ in 20 rain, held for 30 min, and
heated to 950~ in 60 rain, held for 15
min (temperatures and times approximate) and cast in a horizontally rotating induction melting casting machine ~. When cool, each casting was
divested, sandblasted and its sprue and
any nodules on the fitting surfaces re+++Galloni, Milan, Italy.

moved together with the small ledge

corresponding to the "round" at the
edge of the truncated section of the
cone (Fig. 1).
The truncated cone was attached by
its base (Fig. la) with cyanoacrylate adhesive in one "V" of a four-sided "V"
block so that the cone and that part of
the rod marked "Y" (Fig. lb, c) projected beyond one end of the "V"
block. When the "V" block was placed
on the horizontal stage of a Shadow-

grapff Ill,the projecting cone was horizontal and its profile was projected
( x l 0 magnification) to the screen of
the Shadowgraph. The horizontal stage
of the Shadowgraph was movable (in
two directions at right angles corresponding to the cross-hairs on the viewing screen) by 2 micrometers calibrated
in 0.001 mm. The "V" block was positioned on the stage of the Shadowgraph
so that the profile of one side of the rod
"Y" was coincident with the y-axis of
the cross-hairs. The lengths between
the flat surfaces A and C and A ' and C'
(as close as possible to the outside of
the profile but before any rounding was
evident) were measured by movement
of the stage of the Shadowgraph in the
"y" direction. Each length was measured 5 times. The "V" block was then
rotated through a right angle from one
side to the next to produce a second
profile and the lengths between the flat
surfaces A and C and A ' and C' were
measured as before. This procedure
was repeated until the four possible
profiles were measured with respect to
the lengths between A and C and A '
and C'. The mean of all measurements
was calculated and taken as the reference length for the following measurements.
Each casting was seated firmly on the
truncated cone according to the relocating marks and viewed in the Shadowgraph. If loose, a profile as outlined
in Fig. lb was produced. The lengths
between the flat surfaces B and C and
I1flShadowgraph, Nikon, Japan.

EXP %
8.0

EXP %
8.0

6.0

6.0

5.0

4.0

3.0

5.0

+
I -

I-I
I I

4.0
3.o

2.0

2.0

1.o

!i !
H

D]~

1.o

H E V~

CERAMIGOLD
BEGORAL
CERAVEST
DEGUVEST
Fig. 2. Means and standard deviations of the 5 measurements of setting expansion percentage of the 4 investments under the hydroscopic conditions (H), with a dry liner (D) and with
a wet liner (W).

Setting expansion of investment and accuracy of castings

DISCREPANCY
0.01 mm

DISCREPANCY (dry liner, wet liner or hygroscopic) of

0.01 mm

70

70

60

60

50

50

40

40

30

30

20

20

10

10

0
-10

0
-

CT

-10

DT

-20

-20

B' and C' were measured as before for

each of the 4 possible profiles and the
mean calculated. T h e difference between this m e a n and the reference
length was taken as the discrepancy and
was termed positive. If a casting was
tight, a profile as outlined in Fig. l c
resulted. Again the lengths between B
and C and B' and C' were measured 5
times for each of 4 profiles and the
mean calculated. T h e difference between this mean and the reference
length was taken as the discrepancy and
termed negative. The discrepancies of 3
castings m a d e in each of the 4 investments were measured in this way.

Results

The results of the setting expansion and

accuracy of casting measurements are
summarized in Figs. 2 and 3 respectively. Analyses of variance were calculated on the results and pair-wise comparisons m a d e between means using
the Tukey test.
Analysis of variance ( A N O V A ) of
the setting expansion results showed a
significant interaction between the
main effects of investment and condition of setting. A N O V A of the simple
main effects was therefore performed.
This analysis showed that the condition

Table 1. Significance (* = p<0.05) of differences between means of setting expansion

percentage of the 4 investments (C = Ceramigold; B = BegoRal; CT = Ceravest; DT =
Deguvest) under the three conditions of setting (H = hygroscopic; D = dry liner; W = wet
liner).
C
H
H
D
W
D

H
D
W

H
DT D
W

*
*

DT
W

*
*
*

CT

CT

H
B

*
*

*
*

*
*

*
*
*

*
*

*
*

*
*

*
*

measuring setting expansion significantly (p<0.05) affected each investment. Table 1 contains the results of the
pair-wise comparisons.
A N O V A of the accuracy of casting
results (i.e. discrepancies) showed a
significant effect b e t w e e n castings.
Comparison between means showed
that there was no significant difference
between castings m a d e in Ceravest and
Ceramigold and between castings made
in B e g o R a l and D e g u v e s t ; all other
comparisons were significant (p<0.05).
Discussion

Fig. 3. Means and standard deviations of discrepancies of 3 castings made in each of the 4
investments (CT = Ceravest; C = Ceramigold; B = BegoRal; DT = Deguvest) using a wet
liner.

369

The setting expansions of one investment. Deguvest, differed from that of

the other 3 investments in that its setting expansion in a dry liner were greater than under the hygroscopic and wetliner conditions. In contrast, the hygroscopic setting expansions of the other
investments were greater than under
the dry or wet-liner conditions. The setting expansion of D e g u v e s t using a dry
liner was not significantly different
fiom the hygroscopic setting expansion
of the o t h e r investments. It was concluded that D e g u v e s t had negative hygroscopic potential.
T h e r e was no significant difference
between expansion under the hygroscopic condition and expansion using a
wet liner for each investment. This indicated that only a small amount of water (that present in a wet liner) was
necessary to produce hygroscopic expansion. While the use of thicker w e t
liners would allow greater expansion
horizontally in a rigid casting ring (4)
this would be caused by the greater
compressibility of the liner rather than
increased expansion of a hygroscopic
nature because more water is available
from a thick wet liner.
It has been shown (4, 5) by volumetric and strain-gauge measurements
of setting expansion of phosphatebonded investment at the centre of a
casting ring that, by comparison, values
obtained by external measurements are
significantly different. It has also been
shown that anisotropic setting expansion occurred when B e g o R a l , Ceravest
and Deguvest were allowed to set in
PVC rings similar to those used in the
present experiment and that significantly more expansion occurred vertically than horizontally (6). There is no
reason to believe that this would not
also occur with Ceramigold. That is,
the values of setting expansion ob-

370

L. Stevens

tained in this experiment were excessive relative to the horizontal expansion, which would have affected mould
setting expansion concerned in the production of the castings that were measured for accuracy.
The discrepancies exhibited by the
castings made in each investment indicated that greatest mould expansion
(setting and thermal) was provided by
Ceravest, followed by Ceramigold (not
significantly different), followed by
BegoRal and Deguvest (not significantly different). The discrepancies or
accuracy exhibited by the castings did
not correlate highly (r=0.5, p>0.05)
with the values obtained for setting expansion using a wet liner.
In practice, any of the four investments are used to produce clinically accurate Ni-Cr castings. Since no significant differences existed between set-

ting expansion of the investments when

a wet liner was used and significant differences existed between the accuracy
of the castings when a wet liner was
used; since the correlation between setting expansion and accuracy of castings
was not high and not significant; and
since in practice different types of liners
and techniques are used, often depending on the operators' preferences based
on empirical experience, it is clear that
comparison between investments with
regard to their ability to produce accurate castings in terms of mould expansion by measurement of setting expansion is of no value.

References
1. Jones DW, Wilson HJ. Setting and hygroscopic expansion of investments. Br
Dent J 1970: 129: 22-6.
2. Jorgensen KD. Study of the setting expansion of gypsum. Acta Odontol Scand
1963: 21: 227-54.
3. Stevens L. The effect of time between
mixing and heating on the expansion of
phosphate bonded investment. Aust Dent
J 1986: 31: 207-13.
4. Marsaw TA, de Rijk WG, Hesby RA,
Hinman RW, Pelleu Jr GB. Internal volumetric expansion of casting investments. J Prosthet Dent 1984: 52: 361-6.
5. Meiser Jr ET, de Rijk WG, Tesk JA,
Hinman RW, Hesby RA, Pelleu Jr GB.
Internal setting expansion of a dental
casting investment measured with strain
gauges. J Prosthet Dent 1985: 53: 870-3.
6. Junner RE, Stevens L. Anisotropic setting expansion of phosphate bonded investment. Aust Dent J 1986: 31: 434-9.