Scribd
Upload
63 views

Nitinol: by Keshav Jasoriya BARCH/10028/18

Nitinol is a nickel-titanium alloy that exhibits shape memory and superelastic properties. It can undergo deformation at low temperatures but return to its original shape upon heating. This is known as shape memory. It can also undergo large deformations and immediately return to its original shape upon removal of an external load, known as superelasticity. Nitinol finds applications in medical devices like stents and orthodontic wires as well as civil engineering dampening systems due to its unique properties.

Uploaded by

Keshav Jasoriya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
63 views

Nitinol: by Keshav Jasoriya BARCH/10028/18

Nitinol is a nickel-titanium alloy that exhibits shape memory and superelastic properties. It can undergo deformation at low temperatures but return to its original shape upon heating. This is known as shape memory. It can also undergo large deformations and immediately return to its original shape upon removal of an external load, known as superelasticity. Nitinol finds applications in medical devices like stents and orthodontic wires as well as civil engineering dampening systems due to its unique properties.

Uploaded by

Keshav Jasoriya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

NITINOL

By Keshav Jasoriya
BARCH/10028/18
Nitinol
● Nickel titanium, also known as Nitinol, is a metal alloy of nickel and titanium, where the two elements are present
in roughly equal atomic percentages. Different alloys are named according to the weight percentage of nickel,
e.g. Nitinol 55 and Nitinol 60. It exhibits the shape memory effect and superelasticity at different temperatures.
● Shape memory is the ability of nitinol to undergo deformation at one temperature, stay in its deformed shape
when the external force is removed, then recover its original, undeformed shape upon heating above its
"transformation temperature".
● Superelasticity is the ability for the metal to undergo large deformations and immediately return to its
undeformed shape upon removal of the external load.
● Whether nitinol behaves with the shape memory effect or superelasticity depends on whether it is above the
transformation temperature of the specific alloy. Below the transformation temperature it exhibits the shape
memory effect, and above that temperature it behaves superelastically.
Martensitic Transformation
● The lowest temperature phase in Nitinol shape memory alloys with a B19’ (B19 prime) monoclinic crystal
structure.
● A martensitic transformation is a specific type of crystal structure change that occurs when cooling certain
specific metals, including Nitinol.
● The crystal structure found at high temperatures is the parent phase, often referred to austenite, and the
phase that results from a martensitic transformation is called martensite.
● Martensitic transformation can also be driven by the application of a stress, and that doing so gives rise to
superelasticity, but here we confine the discussion to the effects of temperature alone.
● The temperature at which the transformation of martensite from austenite (or R-phase) is completed on
cooling of the alloy is called Martensite finish temperature.
● The intermediate phase which may form between austenite and martensite. The R-phase occurs in Nitinol
alloys under certain conditions. The R-phase has a rhombohedral crystal structure.
Austenite Transformation
● The high temperature parent phase of the Nitinol alloy having a B2 crystal structure.
● Martensite deformation temperature : the highest temperature at which martensite will form from the austenite
phase in response to an applied stress. At temperature above Md the Nitinol shape memory alloy will not exhibit
superelasticity it will rather exhibit a typical elastic-plastic behavior when loaded.\
● In the austenite phase, the memory metal "remembers" the shape it had before it was deformed. From the stress
vs. temperature graph below, one can see that at low stress and low temperature, martensite exists. At higher
temperature and higher stress, austenite exists.
Applications Of Nitinol

Biocompatible and biomedical applications


● Nitinol is highly biocompatible and has properties suitable for use in orthopedic implants. Due to Nitinol's unique
properties it has seen a large demand for use in less invasive medical devices. Nitinol tubing is commonly used in
catheters, stents, and superelastic needles.
● In colorectal surgery the material is used in devices for reconnecting the intestine after removing the pathology.
● In dentistry, the material is used in orthodontics for brackets and wires connecting the teeth. Once the SMA wire is
placed in the mouth its temperature rises to ambient body temperature. This causes the nitinol to contract back
to its original shape, applying a constant force to move the teeth.
● Another significant application of nitinol in medicine is in stents: a collapsed stent can be inserted into an artery or
vein, where body temperature warms the stent and the stent returns to its original expanded shape following
removal of a constraining sheath; the stent then helps support the artery or vein to improve blood flow.
Applications Of Nitinol

Damping systems in structural engineering:


● Superelastic Nitinol finds a variety of applications in civil structures such as bridges and buildings. One such
application is Intelligent Reinforced Concrete (IRC), which incorporates Ni-Ti wires embedded within the concrete.
These wires can sense cracks and contract to heal macro-sized cracks.
● Another application is active tuning of structural natural frequency using Nitinol wires to dampen vibrations.

Other applications and prototypes:


● It has been used in cell-phone technology as a retractable antenna, or microphone boom, due to its highly
flexible and mechanical memory nature.
● It is used in the neck bands of several headphones due to its superelasticity and durability.
● It can be used as a temperature control system; as it changes shape, it can activate a switch or a variable resistor
to control the temperature.

You might also like