Abstract
Because of its good corrosion resistance and biocompatibility, superelastic Ni-Ti wire alloys have been successfully used in orthodontic clinics. However, delayed fracture in the oral cavity has been observed. The susceptibility of a Ni-Ti shape memory alloy towards hydrogen embrittlement has been examined with respect to the residual stress after a few numbers of cycles and ageing in air at room temperature. Orthodontic wires have been cathodically charged by hydrogen with a current density of 10 A/m(2) from 4h in 0.9% NaCl aqueous solution at room temperature. The critical stress for the martensite transformation under a monotonous tensile test of the as-charged specimen has been 30 MPa higher than that without hydrogen charging. However, after 1 to 50 cycles followed by hydrogen charging, the austenite-martensite plateau is decreased outstandingly compared to the monotonous tensile test of the as-charged by hydrogen specimen. Moreover, compared to the non-cycled and hydrogen charged material, the cyclic deformed and charged by hydrogen specimens present an increase of the initial stress for inducing martensite structure. This increase is about 110 MPa after 50 cycles. In addition, an embrittlement has been detected for the specimen submitted to 50 cycles and hydrogen charging for 4h. This behavior is attributed to the generated dislocations during cyclic deformation which act as trapping sites of hydrogen and a barrier for the austenite-martensite transformation.