Development of Nickel-Titanium Shape Memory Alloys via Laser Power Bed Fusion

Shape memory alloys (SMAs), such as nickel-titanium (NiTi) alloys or Nitinol, possess remarkable properties, including superelasticity and shape memory effects, which are attributed to the reversible martensitic transformation. However, traditional manufacturing of NiTi SMAs is challenging due to its high ductility and reactivity, which limits...

Achieving superelasticity in additively manufactured Ni-lean NiTi by crystallographic design

Superelastic metallic materials possessing large recoverable strains are widely used in automotive, aerospace and energy conversion industries. Superelastic materials working at high temperatures and with a wide temperature range are increasingly required for demanding applications. Until recently, high-temperature superelasticity has only...

Healing cracks in additively manufactured NiTi shape memory alloys

The pursuit of enhancing NiTi superelasticity through laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and [001] texture creation poses a challenge due to increased susceptibility to hot cracking in the resulting microstructure with columnar grains. This limitation restricts NiTi's application and contributes to material waste. To overcome this, we introduce...

Pseudo rigid body model for a nonlinear folding compliant mechanism

Folding compliant mechanisms have the potential to be used for innovative designs tailored for specific applications such as energy absorption, shape morphing, or stress relief. This tailorability relies on multiple variables that define the geometric and material behavior. The combined effort of the geometric and material nonlinearity can...

Shape memory modeling of a nonlinear and superelastic compliant mechanism

With the shift from traditionally manufactured rigid-body mechanisms to lightweight compliant mechanisms (CMs) in additive manufacturing, researchers have become interested in modeling the behavior of CMs with high flexibility. Due to the large deformations that can be achieved, the use of CMs has expanded into applications such as energy...