What are shape memory materials used for?

Shape memory materials (SMMs) are featured by the ability to recover their original shape from a significant and seemingly plastic deformation when a particular stimulus is applied1.

Are braces made from shape memory alloy?

What is Nitinol? Commonly known as nickel titanium, Nitinol is a type of metal alloy that is associated with superelasticity, also known as ‘“shape memory”.

What are two uses of memory shape alloys?

Apart from the flexible spectacle frames mentioned above, they can be used in bioengineering applications such as dental wires such as those used in dental braces, mending broken bones using metal plates, and for medical devices that help open clogged veins and arteries.

What type of material could be used for dental braces?

The most effective metal braces are made of titanium alloys, combined with a small amount of nickel and/or chromium. Chromium-nickel-cobalt alloys are also popular and effective. Incognito® lingual braces use a gold alloy for their brackets, which are affixed to the inside of the teeth.

What is special about shape memory alloy?

Shape memory alloys are a unique class of alloys that have ability to ‘remember’ their shape and are able to return to that shape even after being bent. At a low temperature, a SMA can be seemingly plastically deformed, but this ‘plastic’ strain can be recovered by increasing the temperature.

What is shape memory alloy effect?

Shape memory effect (SME) alloys involve a thermoelastic martensitic transformation in which martensite plates form and grow continuously as the temperature is lowered below Ms and disappear by the same reverse path when the temperature is raised.

What are the advantages of shape memory alloys?

Some of the main advantages of shape memory alloys include: · Bio-compatibility · Diverse Fields of Application · Good Mechanical Properties (strong, corrosion resistant) There are still some difficulties with shape memory alloys that must be overcome before they can live up to their full potential.

What are the benefits of shape memory polymers and shape changing polymers?

Because shape memory polymers can respond to temperature, light, pH and moisture, there are many very interesting possibilities for these materials in fabrics. These include comfort, aesthetics, wound monitoring, protection against environmental conditions, smart controlled drug release, and more.

What are the type of braces?

There are 5 main types of braces available today:

• Metal braces.
• Ceramic braces.
• Self-ligating braces.
• Lingual braces.
• Clear aligners like Invisalign.

What are shape memory alloys give their characteristic properties and applications and dentistry?

A material which shows a shape memory effect during both heating and cooling is called two-way shape memory. Generally, shape memory alloys are intermetallic compounds having super lattice structures and metallic-ionic-covalent characteristics. Thus, they have the properties of both metals and ceramics.

Why are shape memory polymers useful?