STAINLESS STEEL

Contents
Introduction
History
Steel
Stainless steel
Composition
Classification
Duplex Steel
Precipitation Hardenable Steel
Cobalt & No Nickel containing Alloys
Manganese containing Steel
 Mechanical Properties
Tarnish & Corrosion of Stainless Steel
Strain Hardening
Heat treatment
Annealing
Tempering
Uses of Stainless Steel
Australian Arch Wires
Multi stranded arch wires
Coaxial Arch wires
TMA Wire
• Composition
• Crystallographic forms
• Physical properties

• Heat treatment
• Clinical application
Conclusion
References
 Introduction
Steel is an alloy of Iron and Carbon. Carbon content
should not exceed 1.2% max.
 When it contains 12 to 13% chromium it is called
stainless steel.
Stainless steel because of its high strength & shiny
surface & resistance to corrosion has done wonders in
technology.
It is being used from our daily requirement utensils to
big machineries used in industries.
It has become the basic need in dentistry.

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 History
It was discovered accidentally by Sheffield metallurgist
Harry Bearly during world war 1 in England.
 Stainless steel entered dentistry in 1919 introduced at
krupps dental polyclinic in Germany by F.Hemptmey
who 1st use it to make a prosthesis called WIPLA (wie
means like platinum)
Application of s.s in the fabrication of appliances was
credited to a Belgian Lucien De Coster. Research studies
was done by R M Williams.
Research study related to metallurgy with particular
references to orthodontic application was done by
metallurgist RM williams.
In 1930 Angle used s.s as ligature wires. By 1937, value
 6 os ss as an orthodontic wire was confirmed
 Steels
Steels are iron based alloys containing less than 1.2%
carbon.
It crystallizes into more than one structure such as ferritic,
martensitic & austenitic property called as Allotropy.
At room temp pure iron is bcc structure referred as ferrite
(alpha form).This is stable till 912º C. the space between
atoms in body centered cubic (BCC) structure are small,
hence carbon has very low stability in this phase.
At temp. btw 912-1394ºC stable form is face centered
cubic (FCC) structure (gamma form) and called as
Austenite, it was termed after a well known metallurgist
Robert Austen
 7
 Transformation of Austenite to body centered
tetragonal (BCT) structure is called as Martensite,
which is highly distorted and strained resulting in n
extremely hard, strong and brittle alloy.

 8
 Stainless Steel
When approximately 12% to 30% chromium is
added to iron, the alloy is commonly called as
Stainless steel. Other elements present are
Ni,Co,Mn,S,Ti etc.
Composition Chromium Nickel Carbon

Ferritic BCC 11.5-27 0 0.20 max

Austenitic FCC 16-26 7-22 0.25 max

Martensitic BCT 11.5-17 0-2.5 0.15-1.20

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 Functions of these are-
Chromium:
 Increases tarnish and corrosion resistance. A thin
transparent, adherentlayer of Chromium oxide forms
on the surface of the alloy when exposed toan
oxidizing atmosphere such as room air, and this
protective layer provides a barrier to oxygen
diffusion and other corrosive environments prevents
further corrosion of underlying alloy. This is called
as “passivating effect”.
 Increases hardness, tensile strength and
proportional limit.
 Nickel:
It strengthens the alloy and helps to Increase tarnish
and corrosion resistance.
Cobalt:
Decreases hardness.
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 Manganese:
It will interact with the sulfur in ss to form
manganese sulfites, which increases the resistance to
pitting corrosion (Scavenger for sulfur)
Increases hardness during quenching.
 Silicon:
Acts as deoxidiser and scavenger.
 Titanium:
It is used to reduce the sensitization of ss. When ss is
sensitized, the intergranular corrosion can occur. It is
caused by the precipitation of chromium carbides
during the cooling phase when parts are welded, as a
result chromium is depleted in welded area, so the
passive film cannot be formed. Titanium reacts with
carbon to form carbides, leaving the chromium, so to
 1
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form the passive film.
 Classification
According to American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI)

Ferritic -AISI series 400

Austenitic - AISI series 302,304,316
Martensitic - AISI series 400

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According to Crystal lattice S.S is classified as

 Ferritic Body centered cubic (BCC)

 Austenitic Face centered cubic(FCC)

 Martensitic Body centered

tetragonal(BCT)
 Stainless steel wire classification acc. to hardness-
Very soft or fully annealed
Hard
Extra hard or high tensile

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 Ferritic Stainless Steel

Designated as AISI series 400

Provides good corrosion resistance at low cost,
provided high strength is not required.
Since temperature change induces no phase change in
the solid state, these stainless steels are not hardenable
by heat treatment.
It is not work hardenable
It has numerous industrial use, but has little use in
dentistry.

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 Martensitic Stainless Steel

Designated as AISI 400 series

They can be heat treated
Because of its high strength and hardness, it is used for
surgical and cutting instruments.
Corrosion resistance of martensitic stainless steel is less
than that of other types and is reduced following
hardening heat treatment
Such heat treatment decreases the ductility. It is only 2
% for a high carbon martensitic stainless steel

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 Austenitic Stainless Steel

AISI series 300 (adding nickel to iron - chromium –

carbon composition)
AISI series 302 (basic alloy containing 17% - 19%
chromium, 8%- 10% nickel, less than 0.15% of carbon)
AISI series 304 (basic alloy containing 18% - 20%
chromium, 8%- 12% nickel, 0.08% of carbon)
Both the 302 and 304 series stainless steel are termed as
18-8 stainless steel.
Type 316L (low carbon), this is ordinarily employed for
implants.

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 Generally austenitic s.s is preferred to ferritic s.s for dental
application because of

Greater ductility and ability to undergoe cold work

without fracturing
Substantial strengthening during cold working
Greater eases of welding
Ability to overcome sensitization
Less critical grain growth
Comparative ease in formation
Reasonable cost

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 Duplex steels

of both austenitic and ferritic grains

Duplex structure (+) results in improvement in ductility
and toughness to compared to ferritic ones, while yield
strength is more than twice of austenitic steels.
It contains molybdenum, chromium and lower nickel
content.
When improperly heat treated the steels have a tendency
to form a brittle phase that diminishes their corrosion
resistance
It is used for manufacturing of one piece bracket.

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 Precipitation hardenable steels ( PH Steel)

It can be hardened by heat treatment, the process

being an aging treatment which promotes the
precipitation of some elements which are added
Because of it high tensile strength, it is used for mini
brackets.

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 Cobalt and no nickel containing alloys

Commonly used in orthodontics for wires and

brackets
Some alloys such as Elgiloy & Flexiloy not only
contain iron but also a large portion of nickel, some
other are nickel free.
Nickel free are used to manufacture attachments such
as Prestige , NuEdge LN
These are generally corrosion resistant

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 Manganese containing alloys

Manganese is used to replace nickel

It acts interstitially dissolving the really austenizing
element nickel.
At high proportions needed (18%), manganese
increases the susceptibility of the alloy to corrosion

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 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
Modulus of Elasticity
Elastic modulus describes the relative stiffness or
rigidity of a material, which is measured by the slope
of the elastic region of the stress – strain graph. It is
the ratio of stress to the strain.
It is the slope of stress- strain curve ( if the slope is
more horizontal, then it is springier and if the slope is
more vertical it is stiffer) Wire with low modulus of
elasticity has increased flexibility
Modulus of elasticity of s.s is 170000 – 200000 mpa

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 Strength

The stress necessary to cause fracture is the ultimate

strength (ultimate tensile strength of s.s is 2200 mpa)
The stress required to cause a specified amount of
plastic deformation is yield strength. (yield strength of
s.s is 1100-1750 mpa)

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 Toughness

It is the amount of elastic and plstic deformation

energy required to fracture a material, toughness
increases with strength and ductility.

Brittleness
It is the relative inability of a material to susutain
plastic deformation before fracture occurs.

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 Ductility

It represents the ability of a material to susutain a large

permanent deformation under a tensile load before it
fracture (drawn readily into wires).

Malleability

The ability of a material to sustain considerable

permanent deformation without rupture under
compression. Because of this property s.s can be made
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into bands.
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 Hardness
It is defined as the resistance of a material to
indentation.
Hardness tests

Brinells test
In this test a hardened steel ball is pressed under a
speciifed load into the polished surface of the material.
The load is divided by the area of the projected surface
of the indentation and the quotient is referred to as
Brinell Hardness Number (BHN). Thus a given load
the smaller the indentation the larger is the number and
harder is the material.
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 Rockwell hardness test

It is similar to the brinells test. In that a steel balll or a

conical diamond point is used instead of measuring the
diameter of the impression. The depth of penetration is
measured directly by a dial gauge on the instrument.

Vickers hardness test

It employs same principle of hardness testing that is used
in brinells test. Here a square based pyramid is used.(The
impression will be square). The vickers hardness number is
calculated by the load is divided by the projected area of
indentation. The length of the diagonals of indentation are
measured and averaged.
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 Knoop hardness test

It uses a diamond-tipped tool that is cut in the

geometric configuration. The impression is rhombic in
outline, the length of the largest diagonal is measured.
The projected area is divided into the load to give the
knoop hardness number

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 Tarnish and corrosion of stainless steel
Tarnish is observable as a surface discoloration on a metal,
or as a slight loss or alteration of the surface finish or
luster.
Corrosion is a process in which deterioration of a metal is
caused by reaction with its environment.

Causes
If the surface inhomogenity is present, it allows
corrosion cells to form in presence of saliva
If bits of carbon steel is incorporated on the metal
surface as in manipulation of s.s wire with carbon steel
pliers.
Brazed or soldered joints can form galvanic couples and
 3
1 cause corrosion.
 Sensitization

If stainless steel is heated between 400oc – 900o c the

chromium reacts with the carbon to form chromium –
iron – carbide at the grain boundaries. The small
carbon atoms rapidly diffuse to the grain boundary
region to combine with the chromium and iron atoms,
resulting in loss of corrosion resistance. This process is
called as sensitization, the formation of chromium iron
carbide is more rapid at 650o c.

Methods to reduce sensitiztion

 3 Reduce the carbon content of steel to an extent that

2
 If s.s is severely cold worked and heated within
sensitization temperature range, the chromium iron
carbides instead precipitate at dislocations, which are
located on slip planes within the bulk grains. As a
result the carbides are more uniformly distributed
throughout the alloy (rather than forming a network of
grain boundary precipitates)

Stabilization: It is the method employed most

successfully in industrial practice to present the
sensitization of s.s at elevated temperature. Titanium
plus tantalum or niobium is added to the alloy that
form carbide precipitates in preference to chromium
 3
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 Strain Hardening / Work Hardenig / Cold
Working

Deformation of space lattice of metals by mechanical

manipulation at room temperature is called cold
working.
Hardening of metal by cold working is called as strain
hardening/ work hardening.
Surface hardness, strength, proportional limit of metals
are increased with strain hardening. The effects
associated with cold working can be reversed by
heating the metal to an appropriate elevated
temperature. This process is called as annealing.
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 Heat Treatment Of Stainless Steel

It’s the process of subjecting a metal to given

controlled heat followed by sudden or gradual
cooling to develop desired qualities in metal.
They are of 2 types
• Softening heat treatment - Annealing
• Hardening heat treatment - Tempering

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 Annealing

Controlled heating and cooling process designed to

produce desired properties in a metal. The annealing
process usually is intended to soften metals, to increase
their plastic deformation potential, to stabilize shape
and to increase machinability

It consists of 3 stages -Recovery

-Recrystallization
-Grain Growth

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  Recovery - In this stage properties of cold worked metal
begins to disappear. There is very slight decrease in
tensile strength & no change in ductility is seen.
Orthodontic appliances fabricated by bending wires are
often subjected to a stress- relief anneal before their
placement. This stabilizes the configuration of an
appliance and allows accurate determination of the force
in the mouth. It will also reduces the chances of fracture
during clinical adjustment.
 Recrystallization – it occurs after the recovery stage. A
radical change in microstructure occurs and the old
deformed grains disappear completely and are replaced
by new strain free grains. These new grains nucleate in
the most severely cold worked regions in the metal and
their grain boundary migration consumes the original
 3
7 cold worked structure. After completion, metal attains its
 Grain growth – the average grain size of recrystallized
structure depends on the initial number of nuclei. The
more severe the cold working. The greater the number of
such nuclei and the grain size for the recrystallized metal
can be ranging from fine to fairly coarse. If recrystallized
metal is further annealed, grain growth occurs in such a
way to minimize the grain boundary area with large grains
consuming small grains.

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 Tempering

Heat treatment of steel to reduce the hardness but it is

counterbalanced by an increase the toughness is called
tempering. It is heated 450ºC for one min.

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 Uses of stainless steel in orthodontics

Brackets and buccal tubes

Molar bands
Auxiliaries (lingual button, lingual sheath)
Ligature wires
Orthodontic pliers
Cutting pliers
Arch wires
Instrument stands, instrument trays
Impression trays
Different parts of orthodontic appliance
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 Advantages of stainless steel arch wires

High stiffness
High yield strength (1400 mpa)
High resilience
Good formability
Good environmental stability
Good joinability
Adequate spring back
Biocompatible
Corrosion resistant
Economical

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 Disadvantages of stainless steel arch wires

Soldering is demanding
Low spring back than Ni-Ti
High modulus of elasticity
Heating to temperature of 400o c – 900o c causes
reduction in corrossion resistance

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 Australian archwire
In 1952, Dr Begg with Mr AJ Wilcock (an Australian
Metallurgist) developed a more tensile wire material
which was thin enough to distribute optimal tooth moving
forces for long periods, over long distances with minimal
loss of force.
This arch wire is round austenitic s.s wire of 0.016 inch
diameter which is heat treated and cold drawn down to its
proper diameter from round wire of larger diameter, in
order to give it the required properties of resiliency,
toughness and tensile strength.

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 Manufacturing Process

Spinner straightening

It is a mechanical process of straightening the resistant

material usually in cold hard drawn condition. The
wire is pulled through high speed rotating bronze roller
that torsionally twist the wire into straight condition.
This procedure results in severe permanent
deformation.

The produced deformation, decreased yield strength

and the tendency of wire to soften in mouth are the
 4
major disadvantages of spinner straightening
4
 Pulse straightening
It is the new method in ehich the wire is pulsed in
special machine that permits high tensile wires to be
straightened. The properties of pulse straightened
wires are more better than the normal wires. It
provides smoother surface and thus less friction
Advantages of pulse straightened wires are:
Increased ultimate tensile strength
Increased resistance to fracture
Better initial yield strength
Increased load deflection rate
High working range & better recovery path
No loss of stiffness even after several months in mouth
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 Grades of AJ Wilcock Wires
Regular grade (White Label)
Lowest grade wires
Used for wire bending practice
Used in patients when distortion of wire is not a
problem
Available in 0.012”, 0.014”, 0.016”, 0.018”& 0.020”
diameter.
Regular plus (Green Label)
Relatively easy to form, yet more resilient than regular
grade.
Used for auxiliaries and arch wires when more
pressure and resistance to deformation are desired.
 4
6 Available in 0.014”, 0.016”, 0.018”& 0.020” diameter.
 Special Grade (Back Label)
High tensile strength, but bends can be given with little
danger of breakage.
Available in 0.014”, 0.016”, 0.018”& 0.020” diameter.

Special Plus Grade (Orange Label)

Better hardness and resiliency.
Excelled for supporting anchorage and reducing deep
bites.
Available in 0.014”, 0.016”, 0.018”& 0.020” diameter.

Extra Special Plus Grade (Blue Label)

Also referred to as premium plus in Austarlia.
More difficult to bend and more subjected to fracture.
 4 Its ability to move teeth, open bites and resist
7
deformation are excellent.
 Supreme Grade (Blue Label)

It is further developed by Mr. AJ Wilcock Jr in 1982

on request of Dr. Mollenhauer of Australia
It is ultra light tensile fine round s.s wire
It was first introduced in 0.010” diameter and was
reduced to 0.009” diameter
It is mainly used in early treatment for rotation,
alignment & leveling.
Eveen though supreme has yield strength more than
that of extra special plus grade; it is used for either in
short section or full arches where sharp bends are not
required.
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 Newer Wilcock Arch Wires
AJ Wilcock Scientific and Engineering Company
introduced a new series of wire grade and sizes with
superior properties by use of pulse straightening.
The new grades available are:
Premium 0.020”
Premium plus 0.010”, 0.011”, 0.012” 0.014”, 0.016”,
0.018”
Supreme 0.008”, 0.009”, 0.010”, 0.011”

0.014” Premium Plus (Gold Label)

In addition to routine use of 0.014’ wire for uprighting
and torquing spring, it is used in high angle cases as a
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9 means to prevent molar extrusion.
 0.016” Premium Plus (Gold Label)
It undergoes less distortion in the mouth compared to
older grades
0.018” premium plus (Gold Label)
It has 2 uses:
When the VTO indicates that the upper incisors needs
intrusion from the outset. This is infact the most
common requirement when the case requires reduction
of a severe overbite before cessation of growth.
It is usually dictated by lipline considerations since the
lower lip grows up on the average 4 mm relative to the
symphysis during the pubertal growth spurt. Otherwise
the case will suffer a gummy smile after treatment.
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 Ultra High Tensile Wire
Ultra tensile wires of supreme grades (0.008”, 0.009,
0.010”, 0.011”. 0.022”) were used initially for aligning
in lingual orthodontics
It is shown that supreme grade wires have similar
flexibility values of -Titanium and are approximately
three times more resilient
0.008”/ 0.009” Supreme (AJ Wilcock Jr. 1984)
Supreme grade, ultra high tensile s.s fine round wire.
Initially introduced in 0.010” and was reduced to
0.009” diameter.
May be used to form a boxed reciprocal torquing

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mechanism to tip one tooth against the adjacent tooth
1 torque wise.
 Mullenhauer claims that, this wire aligns very
malaligned anteriors quickly during stage I of Beggs
treatment. This would mean less reciprocal torquing
during stage II
0.010 supreme (Beige Label)
May be used to form reciprocal torquing springs
excellent for making mini springs.
Archwires gives greater control and ease of placement.
Disadvantage is that they tend to distort easily.

0.011”/ 0.012” supreme (Beige Label)

Mollenhauer states that this wire appears to be strong
yet flexible for anterior teeth. He claims the wire is
 5 excelled for aligning second molars towards the end of
2
 Multi Stranded Or Braided Wires
Initial orthodontic levelling arch wires require great
working range to accommodate the usual
malalignment of bracket slots in the untreated
malocclusion.
Low stiffness is good so that force will be gentle.
Before the titanium alloy wires, various methods used
to maximize desirable properties of s.s wire.
On method was the use of multi stranded wires, which
provided flexibility off small component strands with
sufficient strength provided through use of many
strands of wire.
Very small diameter s.s wires can be braided or twisted
 5 together.
3
 The seperate strands may be as small as 0.178mm
(0.007”) but the final intertwined wires may be either
round or rectangular in shape and between 0.406mm
(0.016”) and 0.635mm (0.025”) in overall cross
section
Braided or twisted wires are able to sustain large
elastic deflection in bending.
Because of their low apparent modulus, bending these
wires apply low forces for a given deflection when
compared with solid s.s.
Coaxial Arch Wire
They are made of a central core wire of 0.006”
diameter wire with 5 or 6 outer wires.
These wires are more flexible and were very
 5
4 frequently used for initial aligning of teeth before the
 Beta titanium wires
Introduced by Burstone and Goldberg in 1980.
Commercial name – TMA (Titanium Molybdenum
Alloy). At temperatures above 1,625° F pure titanium
rearranges into a body-centered cubic (BCC) lattice,
referred to as the ''beta" phase. With the addition of
such elements as molybdenum or columbium, a
titanium-based alloy can maintain its beta structure
even when cooled to room temperature. Such alloys
are referred to as beta-stabilized titaniums.

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 Composition

Titanium – 77.8 %
Molybdenum – 11.3 %
Zirconium – 6.6 %
Tin – 4.3 %

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 Advantages

Excellent formability
Fully heat treatable
Generally weldable
Capable of high strength
More range of action
High spring back
Low stiffness

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7
 Disadvantages

Surface roughness and friction is more as compared

to other wires
Becomes brittle on over heating
Most expensive orthodontic wire

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 Cystallographic forms

The crystallographic transformation takes place in the

pure metal at 882oc. below this temperature, pure
titanium has a hexagonal close packed structure known
as alpha() above that temperature, it is known as beta
()

The crystal structure of titanium at ambient

temperature and pressure is close packed hexagonal 
phase.

At 8900c, the titanium undergoes an allotropic

 5
transformation to a body centered cubic () phase
9 which remains stable to the melting temperature.
 Some alloying elements raise the alpha to beta
transition temperature( ie alpha stabilizers), while
others lower the transition temperature ( ie beta
stabilizer)

Alpha stabilizers eg:- Aluminium, gallium,

germanium, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen.

Beta stabilizers eg:- molybdenum, vanadium,

tantalum, niobium, manganese, iron, chromium,
cobalt, nickel, copper and silicon.

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 Physical Properties

Modulus of Elasticity: It is the half of the s.s wire and

twice of Ni-Ti wire. Thus the TMA wires can be
deflected upto 2 times as much as steel and half of Ni-
Ti wires without permanent deformation.

Formability and Ductility: these properties are

equivalent to that of s.s to allow fabricating
complicated configurations. Unlike Ni-Ti wires, TMA
wire do not alter by sharp bends or twists.

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 Corrosion resistant: TMA wires have an excellent
corrosion resistant.

Joinability: welding can be done. In 1984, Donovan

et al concluded that flat to flat electrode configuration
should be preferred for obtaining strong welded joints
with low level of distortion. But soldering is not
carried out in this wire.

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2
 Heat treatment of TMA alloy

In order to obtain shape memory effect or pseudo

elaasticity at room temperature the material has to be
properly heat treated to produce the uniform  phase
structure. The heat treatment to achieve this goal is
called as solution treatment in which the sample is
heated to the temperature slighly above 8820c for a
period of ime enough to alow for full austenization and
then immediately cooled to room temperature.

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3
 Clinical application of TMA wires

For initial arch alignment

For arch finishing
For fabrication of specialized springs or auxiliaries
For making closed loop
For hooks or tie back attachments by direct welding

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 Conclusion

Knowledge of fundamental principles governing the

relationship between compositions, structures and
properties is center to an understanding of orthodontic
materials. Because of new materials introduction it is
essential that the scientific basis for the selection and
proper use of materials for clinical practice has to be
understood thoroughly.

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 References
Dental materials by Phillips
Clinical principles & techniques by Graber &
Vanersdall & Vig
Biomaterials in orthodontics by William A Brantley
Begg orthodontic theory and technique

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