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Introduction.
The load-deflection rate or stiffness of an orthodontic
appliance component is determined by its configuration,
the cross-sectional size and shape of the wire, and the
flexure modulus of elasticity of the wire. Appliance
stiffness increases proportionally with the flexure modulus;
therefore, a correct measure of this parameter is necessary
for the accurate design and prediction of orthodontic force
systems. Precise measurement of orthodontic material
properties is becoming even more important as different
alloys are introduced and as the specialty emphasizes
analytical approaches to appliance design.
Standard tensile properties, including the modulus of
elasticity, can be obtained, and classical mechanics theory
defines the relationships between tensile, bending, and torsional behavior.1 These equations have been used to compare orthodontic alloys2 and wire sizes3. However, there
are several reasons why flexural moduli calculated from
tensile data may not be applicable to the typical clinical
orthodontic situation. First, large deflections are often
encountered in practice, and, although solutions for these
cases do exist4, most of the literature employs small deflection theory in calculating flexure modulus. Second,
most orthodontic wires undergo a large amount of coldworking during the manufacturing process and may be anisotropic, which would diminish the validity of conversion
from tensile to flexural modulus. Finally, the flexure
moduli of multi-stranded or braided wires must be determined directly by a bending test, since no relations between
tension, bending, and torsion have been established for the
cross-sectional patterns employed in orthodontics.
Even when the flexure modulus has been measured
directly, there have been experimental problems. Brantley
et al. have reported flexure moduli for stainless steel as high
as 36 x 106 psi, and their results varied with specimen
length.5'6 Such a dependence on geometry is difficult to
explain since the modulus is a material property. Yoshikawa et al. have described two analytical techniques for the
measurement of the flexure modulus of small-diameter
wires over relatively large deflections.7 In one approach, a
plot of apparent modulus vs. deflection, obtained by testing
a free-end cantilever, was extrapolated back to zero deflection to obtain the flexure modulus. The second method
Received for publication October 7, 1982
Accepted for publication March 28, 1983
This investigation was supported by USPHS Research Grants
DE-03953 and DE-05321 from the National Institute of Dental
Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20205.
856
*Unitek, Monrovia, CA
Vol 62 No. 7
85 7
af
.N
Fig.
Automated sprini tester capable of simultaneously measuring forces, moments, and displacements.
strain magnifica-
Zl
anrd
m-nulti-stranded
orthodontic
moduli.
The
listed
flexural
in
Table
and
tensile
moduli
of the
solid
wires
are
cobalt-nickel
alloys
(p<O.005),
are
statistically significant.
force
y...............
calculate
wires
in
bending, the
GOLDBERG ETAL.
858
TABLE 1
THE FLEXURE AND TENSILE MODULI OF ELASTICITY
OF SOLID ORTHODONTIC WIRES, psi x 106
Alloy
Stainless Steel
Nickel-Titanium
Chromium-Cobalt-Nickel
Elgiloy Red
Elgiloy Yellow
Elgiloy Blue
Elgiloy Green
Beta Titanium
*Mean
Level of
Statistical
Tensile
Flexure
Modulus Significance+
Modulus
p<0.001
25.7 0.7* 21.5 0.8
6.55 0.19 5.65 0.57 p<0.01
27.5
29.0
29.7
27.2
10.4
25.1
0.8 25.5
0.3 26.4 +
+ 0.5 26.7
0.6 9.86
0.5
1.6
1.1
2.9
1.4
0.43
p<0.001
p<0.001
p<0.005
p=0.334
p=0.079
standard deviation.
+Using Student's
TABLE 2
THE APPARENT FLEXURE MODULI OF ELASTICITY OF
MULTI-STRANDED ORTHODONTIC WIRES, psi x 106
Order*
Wire Type/Size (inch)
D-rect+
1
0.016 x 0.022
2
0.016 x 0.022
1
0.018x0.025
2
0.018 x 0.025
1
0.019 x 0.025
2
0.019 x 0.025
1
0.021 x 0.025
2
0.021 x 0.025
Force-9+
1
0.019 x 0.025
2
0.019 x 0.025
Respond+ (circular cross-section)
0.0155
0.0175
0.0195
0.0215
Hi-T Twist Flex (circular cross-section)
0.015
0.0175
0.0195
0.0215
lAoading parallel
to the
Apparent
Flexure Modulus
0.89 0.08t
1.26 0.16
1.200.04
1.95
1.39
1.73
1.51
1.63
4.02
3.38
0.11
0.05
0.03
0.06
0.01
0.48
0.41
2.84 0.49
1.72 0.05
2.04 0.07
1.70 0.18
4.37 + 0.23
4.21 + 0.45
3.82 + 0.28
5.11 0.75
Conclusions.
The analytical technique described by Yoshikawa et al.
for calculating flexure modulus can be successfully applied
to various solid and multi-stranded orthodontic wires. The
flexure moduli of stainless steel, chromium-cobalt-nickel,
nickel-titanium, and beta titanium were 25.7, 28.3, 6.6,
and 10.4 x 106 psi, respectively. The values for all except
the last were statistically different from their tensile moduli. The flexure moduli of the multi-stranded wires varied
between 0.89 and 5.11 x 106 psi and were dependent on
the direction of activation. The nearly continuous progression of flexure moduli makes feasible a philosophy of
"variable modulus orthodontics", wherein wire stiffness is
controlled by selection of material properties instead of
cross-sectional size.
REFERENCES
1. CRANDALL, S.H. and DAHL, N.C.: An Introduction to the
Mechanics of Solids, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959, pp. 189,