WROUGHT ALLOYS

INTRODUCTION
A wrought alloy is one that has
been worked or shaped into a
serviceable form eg. plate and
band materials, bars & various
prosthodontic & orthodontic wires

Structure of wrought alloys is

fibrous which results from the
cold working applied during the
drawing operation to shape the
wire

GENERAL PROPERTIES OF
ORTHODONTIC WIRES:

 Orthodontic wires are formed into various

configurations or appliances in order to apply
forces to teeth & move them into a more desirable
alignment.

The force is determined by the appliance design &

the material properties of the wire

The following properties are important in

orthodontic treatment:
1. FORCE The force applied to a tooth is proportional to the
wires stiffness.

Biologically, low constant forces are less damaging.

This is best achieved in large elastic deflections
because they produce a more constant force & have a
greater working range.

Range is defined as the distance that the wire will

bend elastically before permanent deformation occurs

2. SPRINGINESS:
Is a measure of how far a wire can be deflected without
causing permanent deformation

3. STIFFNESS:
Measure of the amount of force required to produce a
specific deformation
Stiffness = 1/springiness

4. RESILIENCE:
It is the energy storage capacity of the wires which is a
combination of strength & springiness

5. FORMABILITY:
It represents the amount of permanent bending the wire will
tolerate before it breaks

6. DUCTILITY of the wire

7. EASE OF JOINING:
most wires can be soldered or welded together.

8. CORROSION RESISTANCE & stability in the oral

environment

9. BIOCOMPATIBILITY in the oral cavity

TYPES:

10.Wrought gold alloys

11.Wrought base metal alloys
Stainless steel
Cobalt-chromium-nickel
Nickel-titanium
Beta-titanium

WROUGHT GOLD
ALLOYS
CLASSIFICATION:
1. Type I high precious metal alloys
2. Type II low precious metal alloys

.COMPOSITION:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Gold 25-70%
Platinum 5-50%
Palladium 5-44%
Silver - 5-41%
Copper - 7-18%
Nickel - 1-3%
Zinc - 1-2%

 PROPERTIES:
Generally resemble Type IV casting gold alloys
Wires & other wrought forms normally show
mechanical properties when compared to cast
structures. This is due to the cold working. Thus,
they have better hardness & tensile strength.

However, care should be taken during soldering.

Prolonged heating at higher temperatures can
cause it to recrystallize. Recrystallization changes
the properties & makes the wire brittle.

 USES:
Primarily to make clasps in partial dentures.

WROUGHT BASE METAL

ALLOYS
STAINLESS STEEL
Steel is an iron base alloy which contains
less than 1.2% carbon

When chromium (12-30%) is added to

steel, the alloy is called as stainless steel

Other elements may also be present,

resulting in a wide variation in
composition & properties of the stainless
steels.

PASSIVATION:

These stainless steels are resistant to tarnish &

corrosion, because of the passivating effect of
the chromium.

A thin, transparent but tough & impervious oxide

layer forms on the surface of the alloy when it is
exposed to air, which protects it against tarnish
& corrosion.

It loses its protection if the oxide layer is

ruptured by mechanical or chemical factors.

TYPES:
Based on lattice arrangement of iron:

1. Ferritic
2. Martensitic
3. Austenitic

FERRITIC STAINLESS
STEEL:
Pure iron at room temperature has body
centered cubic structure (BCC) & is referred to
as ferrite

Stable upto 912oC

Have good corrosion resistance but less strength
& hardness, so has little application in dentistry

MARTENISITIC STAINLESS
STEEL:
When austenite (face-centered cubic structure) is cooled
very rapidly (quenched) it will undergo a spontaneous,
diffusionless transformation to a body-centered tetragonal
structure (BCT) called martensite.

It is highly distorted & strained lattice which results in a

very hard, strong but brittle alloy

Corrosion resistance is less than that of other types

Used for surgical & cutting instruments
Bur shanks are also made from this steel

AUSTENITIC STAINLESS
STEEL
At temperature between 912oC & 1394OC the
stable form of iron is a face centered cubic (FCC)
structure called austenite

They are most corrosion resistant of the

stainless steel variants

COMPOSITION:
1. Chromium 18%
2. Nickel 08%
3. Carbon 0.08-0.15%

 USES:
This alloy is called 18-8 stainless steel
Most commonly used in the form of bands & wires
by the orthodontist & pedodontist
Type 316 L (contains carbon 0.03% maximum) is
the type usually used for implants

 ADVANTAGES:
Greater ductility & ability to undergo more cold
work without breaking
Substantial strengthening during cold working
Greater ease of welding
The ability to readily overcome sensitization
Less critical grain growth
Comparative ease in forming

SENSITIZATION
The 18-8 stainless steel may lose its resistance
to corrosion if it is heated between 400-900oC

The reason for a decrease in corrosion

resistance is the precipitation of chromium
carbide at the grain boundaries at these high
temperatures

The small, rapidly diffusing carbon atoms

migrate to the grain boundaries from all parts of
the crystal to combine with the large, slowly
diffusing chromium atoms at the periphery of
the grain.

When the chromium combines with the carbon

in this manner, its passivating qualities are lost
& the corrosion resistance of the steel is

STABILIZATION
Method to minimize sensitization
From a theoretical point of view, reduce the
carbon content of the steel to such an extent
that carbide precipitation cannot occur.
However, it is economically not practical

Some element is introduced that precipitates as

a carbide in preference to chromium

Titanium is commonly used

Ti at 6 times the carbon content, inhibits the
precipitation of chromium carbide at soldering
temperatures. These are called stabilized
stainless steels

 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES:
In orthodontic wires, strength & hardness may
increase with a decrease in the diameter because of
the amount of cold working in forming the wire
1. Tensile strength 2100 MPa
2. Yield strength 1400 MPa
3. Hardness 600 KHN

BRAIDED & TWISTED WIRES:

.Very small diameter stainless steel wires (about
0.15mm) can be braided or twisted together to form
either round or rectangular shaped (about 0.4 to 0.6
mm in cross section) wires
.These wires are able to sustain large elastic
deflections in bending & apply low forces for a given
deflection when compared with solid stainless wire

 SOLDERS FOR STAINLESS STEEL:

Silver solders are used
Soldering temperature for orthodontic silver
solders are in the range of 620-665 oC

FLUXES:
Similar to gold soldering with the exception of:
The addition of the potassium fluoride. Fluoride helps
to dissolve the passivating film supplied by the
chromium
Boric acid is used in a greater ratio to the borax,
which lowers the fusion temperature

WROUGHT-COBALT-CHROMIUMNICKEL ALLOYS
Their properties are excellent also for orthodontic
purposes

COMPOSITION:
1. Co 40%
2. Cr 20%
3. Ni 15%
4. Mo 7%
5. Mn 2%
6. C 0.15%
7. Be 0.04%
8. Fe 15.8%

 HEAT TREATMENT:
Softening heat treatment: 1010 -1200 OC followed
by a rapid quench
Hardening heat treatment: 260 650 OC for 5
hours
The wires are usually heat treated & supplied in
various degrees of hardness soft, ductile,
semispring temper, spring temper)

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES:
Tarnish & corrosion resistance is excellent
Hardness, yield & tensile strength similar to 18-8
stainless steel

NICKEL-TITANIUM
ALLOYS
These Ni-Ti alloy (nitinol) wires have large elastic
deflections or working range & limited formability,
because of their low stiffness & moderately high
strength

SHAPE MEMORY & SUPERELASTICITY:

This alloy exists in various crystallographic forms
At high temperatures, a stable body-centered cubic
lattice exists
On appropriate cooling or on application of stress,
this transforms to a close-packed hexagonal
martensitic lattice
This behavior of the alloy results in two clinically
significant features called as shape memory &
superelasticity/pseudoelasticity

 The memory effect is achieved by first

establishing a shape at temperatures near 482 OC.
The appliance eg. Archwire is then cooled &
formed into a second shape.

Subsequent heating through a lower transition

temperature (37OC) causes the wire to return to its
original shape

The phenomenon of superelasticity is produced by

transition of austenite to martensite by stress due
to volume change which results from the change
in crystal structure

Stressing an alloy initially results in standard

proportional stress-strain behavior. However, at a
stress referred to as superelasticity.

 At the completion of
the phase, behavior
reverts to standard
proportional
stressstrain
behavior.
Unloading results in
the reverse transition
& recovery.

This characteristic is
useful
in
some
orthodontic situations
because it results in
low forces & a very
large working range or
springback

TITANIUM ALLOYS
Pure Ti has different crystallographic forms at high &
low temperatures.

At temperature below 885OC the hexagonal close

packed (HCP) or alpha lattice is stable, whereas at
higher, whereas at higher temperature the metal
rearranges into a body centered cubic (BCC) or beta
crystal

Alpha Ti is not used in orthodontic applications, since

they do not have improved springback characteristics

Beta Ti can be stabilized down to room temperature

by the addition of elements like Mo

Beta Ti alloy in wrought wire form is used for

orthodontic applications

 COMPOSITION:
Ti 11%
Mo 6%
Zr 4%
Sn

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES:
Modulus of elasticity 71.7 X 103 MPa
Yield strength 860 to 1170 MPa
The high strength ratio of yield strength to modulus produce
orthodontic appliances that can undergo large elastic activations
when compared to stainless steel
Beta Ti can be highly cold worked. Can be bent into various
configurations
Welding- clinically significant joints can be made by electrical
resistance welding of beta Ti
Corrosion resistance- both forms have excellent corrosion
resistance & environmental stability.