What is NiTi wire?
Paul Sokolowski may use a heat-activated nickel-titanium (NiTi) wire in your orthodontic treatment. While the mechanical properties that move your tooth are the same as those of regular orthodontic wires, the shape memory and elasticity of heat-activated NiTi wires are what truly sets this technology apart.
How can you set a piece of NiTi wire into a new shape?
In general, temperatures as low as 400 deg. C and times as short as 1-2 minutes can set the shape, but generally one uses a temperature closer to 500 deg. C and times over 5 minutes. Rapid cooling of some form is preferred via a water quench or rapid air cool (if both the parts and the fixture are small).
How does nitinol wire work?
In robotics, Nitinol can be used as an actuator where an electrical current (or heat) is applied to a stretched wire, and the wire will contract while the charge is applied and relax once the charge is removed. Unlike most metals, Nitinol contracts in length when heated but will maintain the same absolute volume.
What is nitinol made from?
Nitinol is a metal alloy of nickel and titanium with unique properties, including superelasticity or pseudoelasticity and “shape memory” properties. That means nitinol can remember its original shape and return to it when heated.
Can you bend NiTi wire?
This is a simple and efficient method for bending NiTi wires. These wires have low force delivery; an ideal of the tooth movement during treatment. This article describes a simple and cost‑effective technique for bending NiTi wire chairside or in labs without losing its property of springback.
What is the function of an archwire?
The central function of the archwire is to shift the teeth into their proper positions. It is responsible for most movements that occur in the mouth during treatment.
How much does nitinol cost?
Nickel-titanium alloys cost about $11 a pound; copper-zinc-aluminium alloys cost about $1 a pound. But experts debate the relative merits of the two: nitinol, though more expensive, is stronger, so less of it is needed in most applications. It is also less likely to corrode.
What makes nitinol a shape memory metal?
How does Nitinol work? One of the most valuable properties of Nitinol is the two-way shape memory effect. This shape memory effect is when the metal undergoes a reversible phase transformation between the Austenite and Martensite phases.
Can you machine Nitinol?
Nitinol is widely used shape memory alloy (SMA) in manufacturing medical devices, actuators, mechanical couplings, etc. However, mechanical cutting of Nitinol is exceedingly difficult to machine. Machining induced surface integrity of SMA has significant impacts on device performance.
What stimulus is required to return the material to its set shape once deformed?
Shape memory polymers are polymer materials that you can deform and then by applying a stimulus, such as heat or light, will return to its previous shape.