Patent — available for licensing
Precipitation Strengthened Ni-Ti-Pd Shape Memory Alloys
A NASA invention available to explore as a licensing opportunity.
About this technology
Overview
Inventors at the NASA Glenn Research Center have developed a set of chemistries and processing methods to enable improved shape memory alloys (SMAs) through precipitation strengthening and crystallographic phase control. These chemistries and methods yield SMAs with higher strengths, low thermal hysteresis of the actuation temperature, improved structural stability, and faster training processes. The enhanced shape memory properties are enabled by the addition of Palladium (Pd) and small amounts of other metal elements, to base nickel-titanium (NiTi) alloys and precise control of the heat treatments performed on the new alloys that encourage the growth of precipitate phases (i.e., finely dispersed, coherent or semi-coherent, nanometer size precipitates). Components made of the new SMAs may be used as actuators in space, aeronautics, and automotive applications across a wide range of temperatures as well as in biomedical settings as surgical tools, implants, or stents.