Stainless Steel and its Application in Orthodontics.

By Post graduate student Department of Orthodontics

Synopsis

Introduction History of stainless steel Metallurgy Composition and functions of each ingredient. Types and grade of stainless steel.

Synopsis

General properties of stainless steel.

Sensitization. Stabilization. Ductility and malleability. Soldering and welding. Strain hardening. Heat treatment.

Annealing. Hardening heat treatment

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Synopsis

Strength Properties

Stiffness Strength Stress, Strain, Proportional Limit Elastic Limit Yield Point and Yield strength Plastic deformation Tensile strength Fatigue Strength Impact Strength Ultimate Tensile Strength
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Synopsis

Mechanical Properties based on clinical significance

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Elastic Modulus Resilience Flexibility Poissons Ratio Spring back Load deflection Rate Stress Relaxation Working Range Friction

Synopsis

Other Properties

Toughness Modulus of resilience Brittleness Bio-host ability Ideal requirement of orthodontic wires Properties of stainless steel orthodontic wires Variation of properties
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Stainless Steel wires

Synopsis

Australian orthodontic arch wire.

Unique characteristics. Manufacture, grading and color coding.

Nomograms Other Applications Conclusion.

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Introduction

Steel is an alloy of Iron and Carbon. Carbon content should not exceed 0.2% max. When it contains 12 to 13% chromium it is called stainless steel. Steel exists in three Ferritic, austenitic and martensitic forms.

History

First developed accidently by Harry Brearley in Sheffield, England. Stainless steel entered dentistry in 1919, introduced at Krupps dental poly clinic in Germany by F. Haupt Meyer. In 1930 Angle used it to make ligature wires. By 1937 the value of stainless steel as an orthodontic wire had been confirmed Stainless steel today is used to make arch wires,ligature wires, band material, brackets and buccal tubes

Metallurgy

Nature of metallic bonding Structure of solidification and grain structure. Crystal lattice Types in Stainless Steel Crystal imperfections.

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Composition
In addition to

Iron
CHROMIUM 11.5-27% 16-26% 11.5-27% NICKEL 0 7-22% 0-2.5% CARBON 0.2% MAX 0.25% 0.15-1.2%

TYPES FERRITIC AUSTENITIC MARTENSITIC

Minor quantities of Silicon, phosphorous, sulphur, Manganese, Tantalum.

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Functions

Chromium: Increases tarnish and corrosion resistance. A thin transparent, tough, impervious oxide layer of Chromium oxide forms on the surface of the alloy when subjected to room air - Passivating film effect

Increases hardness, tensile strength and proportional limit

Nickel:

Increases strength

Increases tarnish and corrosion resistance

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Functions

Cobalt:

Manganese:

Decreases hardness
Scavenger for Sulphur Increases hardness during quenching Deoxidizer and scavenger. Inhibits the precipitation of Chromium carbide.
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Silicon:

Titanium:

Grades of Stainless Steel

SOFT

HALF HARD OR SPRING HARD

HARD

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Austenitic Stainless Steel

Most corrosion resistant of all types of stainless steel Formed between 912 13940C AISI 302,304 Chromium18%, Nickel 8% and Carbon 0.15%(302) 0r 0.08%(304) 18-8 stainless steel

Austenite is preferred to Ferritic because of greater ductility, ability to undergo more cold work without fracture. Increased strength during cold working, ease of welding, readily overcomes sensitisation, less critical grain growth and ease of forming
When austenite is allowed to cool slowly to room temperature it forms Fe3C and ferrite. The iron carbide compound is called cementite and the solid solution of ferrite along with cementite is called pearlite

FACE CENTERED CUBIC LATTICE

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Ferritic Stainless Steel

Stable between room temperature and 912 C.

Carbon has low solubility in this structure. Interstices in BCC are very small. AISI 400 Good corrosion resistance at low cost provided increased strength is not required. Temperature change does not induce phase change in solid state The alloy is not hardenable by heat treatment. Not readily work hardenable. Little application in Dentistry.

BODY CENTERED CUBIC LATTICE

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Martensitic Stainless Steel Body centered tetragonal

If austenite is cooled rapidly (Quenched) it will undergo spontaneous diffusion less transformation to a Body Centered Tetragonal
The lattice is highly distorted, strained resulting in a hard strong brittle alloy Martensite decomposes into ferrite and carbide Decomposition is accelerated by appropriate heat treatment to reduce hardness but this is counter balanced by increased toughness Tempering AISI 400

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Properties of Martensite

Increased strength and hardness used for surgical and cutting instruments Yield strength of 492 MPa (annealed). Hardened 1898 Mpa Brinells hardness range- 230 600 Elongation less than 2% Reduced ductility

Corrosion resistance is the least. Reduced further with Hardening heat treatment.
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General Properties

SENSITISATION:

When heated between 400 and 900 C 18-8 stainless steel loses its resistance to tarnish and corrosion. Carbon atoms migrate to grain boundaries and combine with chromium to form chromium carbide where the energy is the highest If the stainless steel is severely cold worked the carbide precipitate along slip planes, as a result the areas deficient in chromium are less localized and carbides are more uniformly distributed

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General Properties

Stabilization:

Introduction of any element which precipitates as carbide instead of chromium Titanium approximately six times the carbon content prevents the accumulation of chromium carbide at the grain boundaries

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Soldering

A group of process of fusing two similar or dissimilar metals by heating them to a suitable temperature below the solidous of the substrate metals and applying filler metals having a liquidous not exceeding 4500C that melts and flows by capillary attraction between the parts without appreciably affecting the dimension of joined structure Soldering temperature 620 6650C Ideally silver solders are used- alloy of silver, copper, zinc to which tin and indium are added to lower the fusion temperature and improve solderability

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Soldering

Flux:
Material used to prevent formation of, or to dissolve and facilitate removal of oxides, impurities that may reduce the quality or strength of the solder metals. Functions of Flux Aids in removing the oxide coating so as to increase the flow. Dissolves any surface impurities. Reduces the melting point of the solder

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Flux

Composition: Borax glass 55% Boric acid 35% Silica 10% Potassium flouride is added to dissolve the passivating effect of Chromium. Potassium fluoride and Boric acid should be in 1:1 concentration

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Welding

Joining of two or more similar metal pieces by applying heat, pressure without introduction of an intermediary or a filler material to produce localized union across the interface thro fusion or diffusion Spot welding is used to join various components in orthodontics. A heavy current is allowed to pass through a limited area on the overlapping metals to be welded The resistance of the material to the flow of current produces intense localized heating and fusion of metals The welded area becomes susceptible to corrosion due Chromium carbide precipitation and loss of passivation The grain structure is not affected Increased weld area increases the strength
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Heat treatment

As a result of cold working the stainless steel is strain hardened. The method of treatment to remove the unwanted strain hardening is heat treatment. The effect of such treatment depend entirely on temperature Hardening heat treatment Softening heat treatment - Annealing

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Annealing

The effect associated with cold working such as strain hardening, low ductility and distorted grains can be reversed by simply heating the metal The greater the amount of cold working the more rapidly the effects can be reserved by annealing Temperature: 399 0 C for 11 minutes. Metal should have a straw colored appearance on optimum heat treatment. - Funk Stages of annealing: Recovery Recrystallisation Grain growth

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Annealing

Recovery:

Cold work properties begin to disappear. Slight decrease in tensile strength and no change in ductility. All the residual stress is relaxed
Old grains disappear totally and are replaced with strain free grains. Occurs mostly in regions where defects have accumulated. It attains its soft and ductile condition at the end of this stage. The Grain size and number of the recrystallised structure depends on the amount of prior cold working. On repeated annealing larger grains consume smaller grains. At the end of annealing the number of grains decrease and size increases.

Recrystallisation:

Grain Growth

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Hardening heat treatment

There is no hardening heat treatment for austenitic steel due to its stability

It can only be hardened by cold working.

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General Properties

Ductility:

Ability of a material to be drawn into wires. Ability of a material to withstand permanent deformation under tensile load without fracture Ability of metal to be made in sheets Ability of a metal to withstand permanent deformation under compressive forces without fracturing
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Malleability:

Mechanical Properties

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Mechanical properties of Stainless Steel

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Strength Properties

Stress:

Internal distribution of the load Force per unit area. Tensile, compressive or shear stress.

Strain:

Internal distortion produced by the load Deflection per unit length Proportion of change in dimension to the applied stress. Elastic strain: Original shape is regained. Plastic strain: Original shape is not regained.

Elasticity:

Ability of the stressed material to return to its original form The greatest stress to which a material can be subjected so that it will return to its original dimension when the forces are released. Stress is proportional to strain within the proportional limit. Greatest possible stress that can be induced in a material such that stress is directly proportional to strain.

Elastic limit:

Hookes law:

Proportional limit:

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Strength Properties
Modulus of Elasticity: It is the measure of relative stiffness or rigidity of the material. The mechanical property that determines the load deflection rate is the modulus of Elasticity 179 GPa Strength: Capacity of a material to resist a deforming load without exceeding the limits of plastic deformation. Strength is proportional to the resiliency of the material Yield strength: The stress at which increase in strain is disproportionate to stress. 1579 MPa 0.2% plastic deformation. Ultimate strength: The strength at which the material fractures. 2117 MPa Tensile strength 200 MPa Resilience: Total energy storage capacity. The amount of energy absorbed by a structure when it is stressed within its proportional limit. Knoop hardness: 600 Stiffness: Force/ distance. It is the measure of resistance to deformation
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Property and Uses: British standard 3507:1962

DIAMETER TENSILE STRENGTH (tons/in) 100-120 APPLICATION

0.9 TO 1.5mm

BOWS AND ARCHES

0.5mm to 0.8mm
0.3 to 0.4mm

120-130
130-140

CLASPS, FINGER SPRINGS AND SELF SUPPORTING SPRINGS

SPRINGS SUPPORTED ON HEAVY ARCHES

0.15 to 0.25mm
0.4 to 0.55mm

140-150
160 or more.

COIL SPRING
ARCHES FOR MULTIBAND APPLIANCE

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Characteristics of Clinical relevance

Spring back (maximum elastic deflection):

The extent to which the range recovers upon deactivation of an activated arch wire. A measure of how far a wire can be deformed without causing permanent deformation or exceeding the limits of the material. Higher the spring back, grater the working range and lesser are the requirements of frequent activations. Stainless steel has a spring back lesser than Nickel-titanium or beta titanium
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Characteristics of Clinical relevance

Resilience:

The capacity of a material to absorb energy when the material is elastically deformed It is measured by the area under the stress strain curve

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Characteristics of Clinical relevance

Load deflection rate:

For a given load the deflection observed within the elastic limit The force magnitude delivered by an appliance and is proportional to the modulus of elasticity Low load deflection rate provides ability to apply low forces, a more constant force over time while deactivation, greater ease and accuracy in applying a given force
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Working range and Flexibility

The distance a wire will bend elastically before permanent deformation occurs Measured in millimeter or other length units

Flexibility is the measure of the amount at which the wire can be strained without undergoing plastic deformation
D x PL3 / T4

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Formability
The ability to bend wires into

desired configurations as loops, coils and stops without fracturing the wire

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Stress relaxation
When a wire has been deformed
and held in a fixed position the stress may diminish with time even though the total

strain may remain constant.

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Other Properties

Toughness: The amount of elastic and plastic deformation energy required to fracture. It is the measure of resistance to fracture Modulus of resilience : Energy required to stress a structure to stress to its proportional limit Brittleness : It is a relative inability of the material to sustain plastic deformation before fracture of material occurs. A stainless steel wire can undergo five 900 cold working bends before fracture. Biocompatability: It is biocompatible. But Park and Shearer have demonstrated the release of Nickel and Chromium from stainless steel appliances.
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Ideal requirements of Orthodontic arch wires

Esthetic Good range Tough Poor biohost Good springback Low friction Weldable Springy Formable Biocompatible Resilient Strong

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Properties of Stainless steel arch wires:

High stiffness. Low resiliency. Moderate spring back. Moderate range of action. Low friction. Good formability. Biocompatible. Good joinability. Less springy.
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Variation of properties of Stainless Steel wires

Variation in diameter The force that can be developed in a given length of wire increases 16 times per unit of deflection when diameter is doubled. If the diameter of the given length of wire is doubled total load will increase by 8 times. Range decreases as the diameter is doubled. Variation in Length th when the length of The force that can be developed decreases 1/8 the wire is doubled Increase in length will proportionately decrease the maximum load on a one for one ratio. If the amount of length of wire is doubled the amount of deflection increases 4 times. Modification in arch wire Multistranded arch wires: Low load deflection rate. Increased flexibility and range. Low force level.
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Variation of properties of Stainless Steel wires

Cold working:

Increased hardness. Reduced ductility. Increased yield strength. Increased modulus of elasticity.

Annealing.

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Australian Orthodontic arch wires

Claude Arthur J Wilcock developed an orthodontic arch wire for use in the Begg technique Unique characteristics different from usual orthodontic arch wires. They are ultra high tensile austenitic stainless steel arch wires. The wires are highly resilient. When arch wire bends are incorporated and pinned to the teeth the stress generated within the wire which generate a light force which is continuous in nature.

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Unique characteristic of A J Wilcock wire different from usual stainless steel wire

Ultra high tensile austenitic stainless steel arch wire The wire is resilient certain bends when incorporated into the arch form and pin to the teeth become activated by which stress are produced within the wire which generates the force. The stress relaxation of Wilcock wire are significantly lesser than Elgiloy wires. The Magnitude and continuous application of force are vital for efficient function of appliances

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Australian Orthodontic arch wires

Types:

Regular Regular plus Special Special plus Extra special plus Supreme Premium plus
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Regular Grade white Label

Lowest grade and easiest to bend Used for practice bending and forming axillaries Easy to form and more resilient than regular grad Used for axillaries and arch wires when more pressure and resistance to deformation is required Highly resilient, yet can be formed into intricate shapes with little danger of breakage
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Regular Plus Grade - Green Label

Special Grade Black Label

Special Plus Grade Orange Label

Hardness and resiliency of the wire are excellent for supporting anchorage and reducing deep overbite Highly resilient and hard Difficult to bend and subject to fracture

Extra Special Grade ESP Blue Label

Supreme Grade Blue Label

Used for early treatment for rotation alignment and leveling. Although the supreme wire exceeds the yield strength of the ESP it is intended to use in either short section or full arches where sharp bends are not required

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Care to be taken when handling A J Wilcock wire

The wire should be held 12mm away from the tip of the beak and wire Subsequently, the wire should be bent around the flat beak of Mollenhauer plier. Coils are made by bending the wire towards the flat end of the beak for the first 800 and completing the coil with round end of the beak
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NOMOGRAM

Nomograms are fixed charts which display the mathematical functions, provided each scales is adjusted in space appropriately with normal range from one when constructed properly the relationship between the parameters will be given in a straight line

In other words the extended the line between the two will yield the third
Strength = stiffness x range
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Conclusion
Stainless steel is generally used orthodontic wire because of its greater ease of forming, greater ductility and malleability, cold workable, ease of joining can be heat treated and readily overcome sensitization.

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