The Flexure Modulus of Elasticity of Orthodontic Wires

A.J. GOLDBERG*, J. MORTON**, and C.J. BURSTONE**

*Department of Restorative Dentistry, **Department of Orthodontics,

School of Dental Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center,

Farmington, Connecticut 06032

The flexure moduli of elasticity of solid and multi-stranded orthodontic wires were determined. Results for the solid wires approximated their tensile values, but the differences were statistically
significant for the stainless steel, chromium-cobalt-nickel, and
nickel-titanium alloys. The flexure moduli of the multi-stranded
wires ranged from 0.89 to 5.11 x 106 psi, and were dependent on
the direction of activation.

J Dent Res 62(7):856-858, July 1983

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

involved iterative calculations of the flexure modulus which

corrected for changes in span length and the applied force
vector during testing. Both techniques yielded consistent
results for stainless steel and were independent of span
length and cross-section. The purpose of the present study
was to employ the extrapolation method to measure
the flexure modulus of orthodontic alloys, including
stainless steel, beta titanium, nickel-titanium, chromiumcobalt-nickel, and multi-stranded wires. The results were
compared with the tensile moduli of the same materials.

Materials and methods.

An automated spring tester capable of simultaneously
measuring forces, moments, and displacements8 (shown in
Fig. 1) was modified to perform a cantilever bending test
on orthodontic wire specimens. Point loading at the free
end was accomplished by an anvil mounted on a movable
carriage (Fig. 2). Deflection at the free end and the moment
at the fixed end of one-inch samples were measured. Wires
were deflected in 0.5-mm increments to 5 mm. The apparent flexural modulus of elasticity was calculated at each
increment using the cantilever equation based on beam
theory, D P3
where D = deflection at the free end of the cantilever
p = load at the free end of the cantilever
L = beam length
E = apparent flexure modulus of elasticity
I = moment of inertia
A linear regression was performed on the apparent modulus
vs. deflection data for each sample, and the intercept was
reported as the flexure modulus of the specimen.
Solid cross-sections of 0.01 6-inch nominal diameter were
tested. The actual wire cross-sections were measured with a
micrometer, and the resulting measurements were employed in the calculations. Nine samples of each wire type
were tested, and the means and standard deviations were calculated. The solid cross-section wires which were tested included alloys of stainless steel*, nickel-titaniumt, chromium-cobalt-nickel (Elgiloy Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green),
and beta-titanium. $ All wires were tested in the as-received
condition.
The multi-stranded wires of round and rectangular crosssection listed in Table 2 were also evaluated. The nominal
cross-sectional dimensions were employed in all calculations. A sample size of three was used for all wires with the
exception of the Force-9 wire, of which five samples were
tested. The sample means and standard deviations are
reported as an apparent flexure modulus.
The tensile moduli of the solid cross-section wires were
determined with standard procedures. Seven samples of
each wire were tested with a constant strain rate of 0.05

*Unitek, Monrovia, CA

tNitinol, Unitek, Monrovia, CA

Rocky Mountain, Denver, CO
tTMA, Ormco, Glendora, CA

Vol 62 No. 7

FLEX URE MOD UL US OF OR THODONTIC WIRES

85 7

af
.N

Fig.

Automated sprini tester capable of simultaneously measuring forces, moments, and displacements.

ernm/min using a 1/2-inch extensometer and

tion of 400:1.

strain magnifica-

Results and discussion.

The extrapolation technique described by Yoshikawa

et al. proved successful for the measurement of flexure

Zl

modulus for both the solid

anrd

m-nulti-stranded

orthodontic

|wires. The apparent miiodulus

deflection plots were
linear, and the intercept values approximated the tensile
vs.

moduli.
The
listed

flexural

in

Table

and

tensile

moduli

of the

solid

wires

are

1. For practical purposes, the values within

alloy are similar, but Student's t tests show that the

differences within stainless steel (p<O.001 ), within nickeltitanium (p<0.O1), and within all but one of the chromiumeach

cobalt-nickel

alloys

(p<O.005),

are

statistically significant.

The flexural and tensile moduli of beta titanium were not

statistically different (p=0.079). For all materials, the
tensile modulus was lower than the flexure modulus. This
shows that while the tensile properties could be used to

force
y...............

calculate

systems and compare

use of the directly

more accurate.

wires

in

bending, the

imieasured flexure modulus would be

The tensile mrioduli of stainless steel are not only below

those measured in flexure, but are also considerably lower
Fig. 2 - Anvil mounted on a movable carriage and used to apply
point loading at the free end of the specimen.

lInstron Universal Testina Mach ine, Instron Corp., Canton, MA

J Dent Res July 1 983

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

t test to compare flexure and tensile modull

within each alloy.

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

larger cross-sectional dimension.

2=loading parallel to the smaller cross-sectional dimension.

+Ormco, Glendora, CA
Unitek, Monrovia, CA
tMean standard deviation.

than the 28-30 x 106 psi values commonly used. The

current tensile moduli of approximately 21.5 x 106 psi are,
however, consistent with previous orthodontic5'9'10 and
metallurgical1l literature. The decrease in modulus of
elasticity values below those for annealed stainless steel
is associated with the extreme cold-working experienced
during manufacturing."1 These same effects could also be
responsible for the difference in tensile and flexure modulus observed in the chromium-cobalt-nickel and nickeltitanium materials.
The results for the multi-stranded wires are shown in
Table 2. Clinically, these wires have very low flexure moduli ranging between 0.89 and 5.11 x 106 psi. Of particular
interest are the different values found for the first- and

second-order activations. This effect is not surprising in

light of the non-solid cross-section. The results suggest that
the torsional properties of both solid and multi-stranded
wires should also be measured directly.
These data, viewed in whole, reflect the growing armamentarium of the orthodontist. In the recent past, the
only widely used materials were stainless steel and chromium-cobalt-nickel, both with flexure moduli values in the 25
to 29 x 106 psi range (as measured by the technique of
Ref. 7). The newer wires provide the nearly continuous
progression of material stiffness values of approximately
1.5, 6.5, 10.4, and 25.7 x 106 psi. In addition to the broad
clinical advantages of choice, this progression allows the
orthodontist to control stiffness with material selection
instead of the traditional approach of varying cross-sectional
size. The advantages of this technique, which include constant and early bracket engagement and ease of handling,
have been discussed elsewhere.12

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.
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Mechanics of Solids, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959, pp. 189,

244, and 290.

2. KUSY, R.P.: Comparison of Nickel-Titanium and Beta Titanium Wire Sizes to Conventional Orthodontic Arch Wire Materials, Am J Orthod 79:625-629, 1981.
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4. DeFRANCO, J.C.; KOENIG, H.A.; and BURSTONE, C.J.:
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5. BRANTLEY, W.A.; AUGAT, W.S.; MYERS, C.L.; and WINDERS, R.V.: Bending Deformation Studies of Orthodontic
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