Wire Resistant to Metal Fatigue

[TheThinMan]

I am looking for wire that is resistant to metal fatigue from repeated bending. It must be the diameter of a coat hanger or smaller, with a good memory, and reasonably priced. Any body have any ideas? Its to repair dolls so it doesn’t have to measure up to high standards but I thought I would ask in this forum before I used ordinary wire.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[2oolhound]

Nitinol is an alloy of Nickel and titanium in fairly equal amounts. It's expensive but maybe you don't need much.

 

[sberry]

Simple rebar tie wire is pretty good. You can get it epoxy coated.

 

[myredracer]

How about braided picture hanger wire? Has galvanized strands but also available in stainless steel and vinyl coated s/s. It's very flexible and strong.

 

[TheThinMan]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will check them all out and I'm sure one will work. Thanks again.

 

[A_Pmech]

Isn't copper wire the usual material? 14ga solid wire is available at any hardware store.

 

[ez-duzit]

Stainless would likely be the worst for bending; copper best

 

[abachman]

I have some mechanics wire that I use to support things when working on car parts etc. I have bent and re-bent numerous times without breaking. The wire I have is not too stiff, so it bends relatively easily.

 

[TheThinMan]

Is copper wire resistant to breaking from constant bending? I've got some I'll check it out. And the mechanic's wire too. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Bohdan]

Copper strain hardens as you bend it so it will break in time. It just might last longer than most commonly available wires.

 

[ambenz]

I just use the old metal coat hangers....

 

[2oolhound]

Is copper wire resistant to breaking from constant bending? I've got some I'll check it out. And the mechanic's wire too. Thanks for the suggestions.

Copper bends well and as said it work hardens from bending like most other metals. Good thing about copper is it can be annealed and that would allow you to bend it like new wire again. This can be repeated over and over. Bad thing is it doesn't have a lot of strength. It may bend too easily for your application. If size isn't that crucial you may be able to twist 3 wires into a strand and solder the ends solid for added strength. You could also mix copper and steel wire by twisting it together into strands the same way.

 

[chrism0107]

unless you make some kind of joint of some kind, no matter the metal wire selected it will eventually fail from movement/bending if it is capable of being positioned. if it only needs flexibility then stranded cable would be the choice IMHO.

 

[myredracer]

High-flex braided copper straps, fatigue tested for as many as 250,000 cycles. Some stranded copper wire can withstand millions of flex cycles. Just need lots of small dia. copper strands of the right alloy in a bundle. Even glass can be flexible in fine enough strands like fiber optic cable. Don't know what the science is behind strand diameter but would be interesting to know - could not find a link.

 

[SteveH-CO]

I recently tried to find 'mechanics wire' and found that the modern, Chinese-made junk is quite stiff and hard to use. I ended finding an ancient spool at a junk store that was the nice, soft, old American-made stuff that bends readily. One would think that so-called 'baling wire' would be easy to find, but it's not commonly sold. The stiff stuff came from Walmart (who at least carried it)!

The moral is not to assume that wire is stiff or soft until you have bent it with your bare hands.

 

[LumpyMusic]

I think what some call "Mechanic's Wire" is the same as what horse people call "Hot Wire, wire". String it around a pasture on insulators etc. Comes in steel or alum. One is 17 ga. There's a heavier one that when steel is really stiff as fence wire but might be great for mechanics.

Tack store, livestock supply, HarborTractorFreightSupply. Home Depot and Lowes if you're in a horse area.


Lump

 

[Danno1]

Don't know what the science is behind strand diameter but would be interesting to know - could not find a link.

The ratio of wire diameter to bend radius. Smaller wire is stressed less than larger for the same bend radius.



.

 

[Nor'Easter]

The ratio of wire diameter to bend radius. Smaller wire is stressed less than larger for the same bend radius.



.

More specifically, the outer edge of the bend is being strained the most. This is why thick plate can sometimes show cracks on the outside of the bend if the radius is too small.

 

[TheThinMan]

Very interesting discussion with good ideas. Thanks to all the contributors. I went ahead with copper wire as it had good memory and my "fatigue test" showed that it could be bent many times without breaking. I know if it is bent enough it will break but I'm pretty sure for this application it will be adequate. I tried the braided picture hanging wire (thanks myredracer) but it wasn't stiff enough. The Nitinol was too expensive but finding out about this material has opened up a whole new world for me (thanks 2oolhound) The grandkids will be amazed. Thanks again.

 

[Kevin54]

Depending on the amount of bending look into aluminum wire. We used it to rack parts in our plating department. It was reused many times over before being tossed.