Dental Casting of Titanium and Ni-Ti Alloys by a New Casting Machine

H. HAMANAKA, H. DOI, T. YONEYAMA, and 0. OKUNO

Division of Metallurgy, Institute for Medical and Dental Engineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 2-3-10 Kanda-Surugadai,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101, Japan

The purpose of this study was to develop a new casting machine for ting chamber and a lower casting chamber with an argon arc
titanium and Ni-Ti alloys. Properties of cast pure titanium and Ni-Ti vacuum-pressure system. Though the principle is based on the
alloys were studied by means of the tensile and casting tests. As gas previous casting machine, "Castmatic" (Iwatani & Co., Ltd.,
in the mold was removed by the mold being heated under a high Osaka 541, Japan), some details are different. The main fea-
vacuum, the reaction between the molten metal and the mold de-
creased. The new control system and the two types of crucibles de- tures that have been developed are as follows: (1) The melting
veloped proved very useful for prevention of internal macro-defects and casting chambers are evacuated to a higher degree by means
in castings and for improvement of castability. Mechanical properties of an oil diffusion pump. The degree of vacuum reaches 1.3
and castability of pure titanium were improved. Ni-Ti alloys could be x 10-3Pa(1 x 10-5Torr) without a mold, and 2.6 x 10-2Pa(2
cast without loss of their shape-memory effect or super-elasticity char- x 10-4Torr) 10 min after a mold is set in the casting chamber;
acteristics. The new casting machine is thought to be promising for (2) in the casting chamber, a heater has been placed to control
the casting of titanium and Ni-Ti alloys. Furthermore, we can cast the mold temperature; it may be moved up and down with use
these alloys using conventional techniques and investments. of the lever outside the chamber; (3) two types of copper cru-
cibles have been developed-one a split type (Fig. 2) and the
J Dent Res 68(11):1529-1533, November, 1989 other a tilting type (Fig. 3)-that are changeable and have
advantages and disadvantages that will be discussed later; (4)
Introduction. a device for direct suction has been placed at the bottom of
Titanium alloys are promising materials in the dental field be-
cause they have excellent corrosion resistance and biocompa-
tibility. The nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti) alloy, which consists of
Ni and Ti in a nearly equal atomic ratio, possesses unique
mechanical properties. These include a shape-memory effect
and super-elasticity characteristics. Castleman et al. (1976)
found that the Ni-Ti alloy had good biocompatibility, and Speck
and Fraker (1980) found that it had a high degree of corrosion
resistance. Hamanaka et al. (1983) mentioned that the super-
elasticity characteristics, or excellent spring-back property, of
Ni-Ti alloys were expected to be useful for clasps and other
dental devices, and would lead to the development of new
therapies. Takahashi et al. (1984) investigated the fatigue
properties of the alloy castings for clasps. Miura et al. (1986,
1988) reported that Ni-Ti alloy orthodontic wire, which exhib-
ited an unusual property termed "super-elasticity", had been
used successfully in the clinic.
It is difficult to cast these alloys by conventional dental
casting techniques, since titanium is so reactive at high tem-
peratures, easily oxidized, and reacts with the crucible and
mold components. Ida et al. (1980, 1983) reported on the
dental casting of titanium alloys, and developed casting meth-
ods and investments. However, in these studies, some special
techniques were required for the casting; moreover, ductility
and important properties of the alloys were considerably de-
creased through casting. In practice, the titanium alloys seem
to be less than satisfactory, and problems still remain.
The authors have developed a new casting machine for ti-
tanium and Ni-Ti alloys, which has been reported in a previous
study (Hamanaka et al., 1986). In this study, we made another
attempt to improve the casting machine and examined some
properties of castings.
Fig. 1-Schematic diagram of a new casting machine.
Materials and methods. A = Water-cooled B Melting chamber
Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the casting machine de- electrode D Copper crucible
veloped in this study. The machine consists of an upper mel- C = Metal F Heater
E = Mold H D.C. electric sources
G = Casting chamber J Vacuum tank
Received for publication January 2, 1989 I = Oil diffusion pump L Compressed argon gas tank
Accepted for publication May 17, 1989 K = Rotary vacuum pump
1529
1530 ~ HAMMANK4 et a! J tR&Nv~ 199

800

4~ 00

2007V
Fig2 Teltpcpori bfo eaingl, afte
casting

the mold for improv Id castability; (5) th vcu tan

0~~~~~~~~4 1020304
the compressed Argon gas tank have beer s et to operate Mro Stralin (%)
effickently; (6) with us~ the Lboa cvd i eliciuud an '- Ai.4-T IcfSrse ancreso atpr iim A T1½
bWe D C elcIc souce the capacity for melti dn 'lo t1 ' C d ~
about100 g; and (7) anew on),-rolsystemwas dveloped ingF r tV a
this system after imoid and metalar set anthe rMafieF
the upper and lower chambers are evacuated. I h n, argon ga
is' fed into the upper chamber when the started 'button is pushed ~~ao etO eot s~pmmr fe
and ar. electric~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.rc
P. h~~~~~~~~~gun a 1,omat~~~~~~~~~~~~c~~~ ily at th GXI~~~~~~~~~~~~~~fl ~ ~ r ~ ~
at~~~~~~~~~~~~~dth
and ~ ~ ~ e s per e a icity could b
6 astciy ou -einestgaedd. lb
wes gat Tese N Ni Ii
After the alloy melts down, the new coytro I yst m canb
started when the ' cast" button is pushed. At first t tipr nn ly e p ihpryN r er etdo
cbamnber is exhausted for 0to10 s, andthen the cope vcreuoe ch aI nrg
cible splits or tiltsAo drop the molten metal. Frow 0 01 to 0.05 neh imow ptrs envsd how
s later, the compressed argon gas is wnjcted int th upper itpop abnde silica Inetme Sur ve 1st hf
chamber. This control system works automatically in 4cor-Kopa)T, ~.a i irfhe nt a eu o~ dvrbr~ uo Stire a
i..n tb6 rMae nirtsign
dance with a given, program.
in this study some items wer c ast. ir order to in estigat ci
rancrewr
rim
wndvithl t
of an lnstror
es wr andota
the differences of three casting runs byht new a machine the daaoshadse I r
usual Castmiaftic, and another type of argoq ar casin m
chine we made and comnia dte sIte tesp ecim s m
in diameter and 50 Mm~mton. Four specim~ens werr as for Rsls
each run with, pure titanium (Greader I ASTIM Standards 167
83prescribes the chenicat composition). Crown f riec a Fig. 4Show 1h aty s riciv tnict tin
tings were made by both th new riachine and the usual CiaiuaScrrA 0 su
awthuto a h
inatic, and weeosrved with radiogYraphs. Ni i altoy I twns mac r dvelope in hituyBbyhpviu
TiL50.8 Ni, 49.6 Fi-5O4 Ni in atomic 7e were ued for mvodil~ n C by nobher 1 ntri ugalt ype agon arc castfing
sting items On wasa .3Irm hick, 20 x 30ynhef For C, spe iat phosphat bondeIalum aslci
castanility, and the other was Lihe same temsiltes -specire v i u onIt ie te. rui~ tc riitiet to
Je stegh n q tlonato arr surariedin the Tabl
ks ovr th ttenech niea Iopoertiesoftiariumare much
I,~Afecd by Mlewt of oxygen1 Lymn11979) sta d that
the l streng~i an longaton of purre livwrrbto 250
MPA a l( 50% r es cctivety For specir6 n tough b tensile
ghngswrerase hanthoco0 resp ind1 BastndC
e
lb
d non es that the deg of oxidaion during ineltting arn
ree
coritdinai i fro tIhi. mold wete no h less in specimen A:
diff ied gretty frorl thois of te rawinta
, ~~~~~~~~~~~~Fig.
5 shov raitographs, of ra ur titaniuin owns. these~
C ~~~~~sov less porosityafter thnewinachine wasued. A Fig. 6
hosI the compa ison of the cas bility b teen the new and
old ahrnea with NiTI toy. Wax, oatte ms in1she Its 0.3 nmm
S ~~
~~~~~~~~~hi
kand 20 x 30mmwere used. 1hearea of csignreased
and d l~ ~ ~ ~ e 5 i I c ~~~~~~~~Stig dceae when thI new macin e was
Ftg
3
I~~hc
itt
ng
ivptx c uctb T c ucib C 0 ~~~effe asinfc r Ingerastcye& phni
fvithwr
VU6 SN6 bDTV CAS (G11 \UAWAN Ni ALL 431

TABL
TENSIL TST RESU~sCO'PR TI NIUM CASTING SY
THREE TYPES OF MACHINES,
U ed ~ Yield Strnnth Ultimoate Tensile
Casting (0.2 o Offset) Strength Elngaion
Machine (~)(~) (c
Nev A
Machine
AVG 284.8 3&5.0 30 6
STI) 4.9 I 9 1.7
Ca~stiatie B
AVG 299.8 409,3 ~ 20.4
510 ~ 9.4 ~ 97 30o
Anothl~r ~C
ype
AVG 578,5 7081.
STD 2209.5 26

of Ni-Ti ratios that have shape-memoy effects and super-elas-

ticity at body Itemperature. Fig., 7 shows the stessrancre
in tensile testing of 492Ti-0 Ni at. oq alloy cast by the
new rnachine. Lbh sftre sstrain curves of NiTi alloys were
more affected by impurities~than were~those of pure tit anium,:
The specimen showed a unique, bysteresis curve, named, super-
elasticity. The stress-straint Curve was almostt straight in 'the
elastic range and afte h i ir cf "p~rootiohaiiyya
~~ccdd~~b slop F curv bn n srdrt ~~Fg~6 cmario 4teNii Weki y th w*and th uul:
o plstcdforrmation innusu al1Ilys Whe 17 stres was0
tha wC.
f~dUced~fr n Iths supe sti co to zroL sranv _so_____
reas dto appoxiratel Lerol. 8Aisbt ~cstca of t
ao Lven af ersc bendig as shown A Fg. B eres d lt c oen

vrm
up
65(3
bwoki r s v d~~~~~~~~~o
a hr io impir lb
ttsSu
invet x n dint trol Hc~,td n
Di.9iscstesrssion f 9. H as-
i hae eta
zroumxic mnt Tolw edta.n h198 1w83 soting
A~~th r ard
'borecaingr ~~~~~~~~thdeinc casinwo T1 rh mansovcwlc ivrodstm
Otrgf u eiat
nulalys ai b nodt pced
oy bay py hr sti 16 Wo
c i ntlscue~n

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0

H
tst~~~~
IC 1ar
r C OX~~~~~~i ipt M
1532 HAN/lA 1KM 4 t a! J D:i Rc nbvembe95
.9

B~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
;;0f::ig*;08-(X;0fhe:;Stdelaspd;Ng0049.0t~OgNil) Super-elasti~c0:~~:: Fig.A10-Teht hA&
:of Sprues cast ffintophe Oate~bofded in stmentf
N N defrcmatioht dmol&'
Nqh ine, C :tc
N NN~~~~~~~inti s nago a
200
4~~~~~~~N
~reviou kh'ne, as
meNtNngN is &d uring

00
0
;0
f;
0 _
it;;60020 _ 0 show ofaVsprueth00s rcastenponphatle-bodead :s0f0ica 0
:X:0ahhne:heeds

;Fig,
CL 8(A)
Theast
40()0:0
f; --_ casp
_ o_ Ni-T
_ ._ 49.2 T-50.8N~)____=_
i_____ suer-elat C 0: : f:00 aFgo
by the ga-T,
reaciow hech ads
ith:t~h oeVofnpe
ues
inesmethe rth Tihu:0 mc Se.:ti
castintnpospat-bnde q
gs investen
ued0we
alloy
(B)even beningther w s o pemanet d frmaton.
ftersevee gond, gas isNewxmachsned B oCstmaticprrut
1.
0j
V10
f I
00
00f ;0J _ ~ 1 f 01 0 t 0 0mtchving eerat cshoedabili
b ee oth ~: surtace
alloyn moc dtP thei waexca~d
on thri-son Vof the t
10 shtow Fl
f~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~S Th0:Oe
ofA
ads rscsi
tha
phosphat
is bonded
'dduil silic
ith
l tcaoustmcingl
i::etmen on
invtemterntur
hinw s v mold
Ih sufa
yough andtso
by theaoler o m
ifnetast porou
sa wonas
r1pisdwas caused
s rue Ienvhtstigtme: f on th cings wshol removeed.
I ff :00000 i00
av0L&
0 f0000 0: teI :: asp kft
,/ |:D an:tdAsfewear otenl mado sdcrnfectas incasiyeb fastil
Other
oio tpo fe ures ofou tea mmehn ar he bet
he memlybia rwl dvped. e coctro
oltnmtrolssyste r I hesX he
;
0 00 0;f Strdn ( :f~3: ; :X ; ;000 ;:Xachi00eved
f;00
X mantalyibyrapned0:lvf&elofed y reac
TheV
;;
0V
f~l&
0 ::fu~ fe0 cst09X* ti50:40 i~f hapeme 0S 0;0uction fi bret
Sres-strain t :Xbtt6
h: rtia::ntible s 6 e Metive itnte00:0:;
:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~7atn pre8 between thenwatd the Prev000ious machf:f;0::
tines 00000;00
Vol. 68 No. 11 DENTAL CASTING OF TITANIUM AND Ni-Ti ALLOYS
A The assistance of Iwatani & Co., Ltd. in making the casting
B erties of Pure Titanium and Titanium Alloys. Evaluation for Dental
Fig. 11-Comparison of the casting process between the new machine
and the previous "Castmatic". A = New machine with the split-type
crucible, B = Castmatic.
the mold. Thus, there will be a delay time of 0.1 s after the
splitting is set. The delay time may be changed within the
range of 0.01 to 0.50 s, for the best castability to be achieved.
Though this control system seems to be relatively complicated,
it works automatically, in accordance with a given program.
This control system is useful for prevention of the internal
macro-defects in castings and for improvement of castability.
In this study, we tried two types of copper crucibles, shown
in Figs. 2 and 3. There are advantages and disadvantages to
the use of both types. The split type was useful for relatively
small amounts of alloys of up to 20 g, but not for larger amounts
of alloys. With larger amounts, the bottom part of the alloy
that is in contact with the copper crucible did not melt com-
pletely or solidify quickly, so it impeded the flow of molten
metal. Though the tilting type is useful for amounts of alloys
greater than 20 g, it was not very good for smaller amounts,
since a small amount of the alloy solidified on the way and
1533
remained. Thus, the choice of crucible depends on the amount
of alloy.
It has been thought that dental castings of titanium require
a special technique; however, this no longer seems to be true.
By use of the casting machine developed in this study, titanium
and Ni-Ti alloys are castable even with commercial phosphate-
bonded silica investment, without the loss of important prop-
erties. This machine is thought to contribute to the advance-
ment of dental applications of titanium alloys.
Acknowledgment.
machine used in this study is gratefully acknowledged.
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