Titanium-niobium, a new finishing wire alloy.

The mechanical properties of the newly introduced titanium-niobium finishing wires were investigated. Both in bending and torsional loading mode, the stiffness, yield point, post-yield behavior, and springback of titanium-niobium wires were experimentally determined and compared to those of equally sized stainless steel wires. The experimentally obtained values were also validated with theoretical values from engineering formulas of cantilever deformations. The ratios for these parameters for the two materials proved to be different in bending and torsion. The stiffness of titanium-niobium in bending is roughly half of that of stainless steel, whereas in torsion it is roughly one-third. These characteristics enable the clinician to use titanium-niobium for creative bends without the excessive force levels of steel wires. The springback of titanium-niobium in bending is 14% lower than that of steel, whereas in torsion it is about the same or even slightly higher than that of steel, thus making it possible to utilize the wire for even major third-order corrections. Finally, the weldability of titanium-niobium wires was found to be good, so it is possible to weld wires of different dimensions together for the generation of differentiated force systems.