Nickelol is an alloy of nickel and titanium that has approximately 50 percent nickel. It was discovered in 1960, but it would take years for Nitinol to make it to the market. This is due to the difficulty in processing and manufacturing. Many of Nitinol’s applications have been realized in the middle of the 1990s. This is due to its shape-memory properties and superelasticity. Nitinol has shape memory, which means it can be transformed into a new form at a temperature below the normal body temperature and then return back to its original form if heated above its transition temperature.

Characteristics & Properties of Nitinol
Nitinol has the unique ability to adapt to particular strains and is compatible to the human body. Therefore, it has many uses in the medical field. Nitinol displays a cubic crystal structure, known as austenite (also called the parent phase). It spontaneously becomes martensite at lower temperatures. The temperature at where austenite turns to martensite, also known as the transition temp, is commonly called the Ms temperature. The temperature that martensite fully forms is known as Mf temperature. These two features of Nitinol's structural structure -- shape-memory and superelasticity -- allow it to show a reversible reaction to applied stress. This is directly caused by the phase change between the martensitic and austenitic phases.

These two aspects are critical to Nitinol’s properties. The transition is "reversible", meaning that heating above transition temperature will return the crystal structure back to the simpler austenite. The second important point is that two-way conversion occurs instantly.

Martensite crystals have the unique ability to undergo finite atomic bond breaking without causing any damage. Twins are a form of permanent deformation. It involves the rearrangement and reorganization of atomic planes. This can withstand around 6-8% strain.

Martensite can be converted to austenite using heating. The original austenite structure can still be found regardless of the deformation of the martensite phases. This is why the term "shape memories" refers to how the high-temperature austenite phases are "remembered", even if they deform severely at lower temperatures.

The Nitinol medical devices, such as stents, can be made at the body temperature, deformed at another temperature and then placed into an artery. Once it is back at its original temperature, it will return to normal size. The device will also fully recover when it is bent to extremely high strain rates (upto 7%).

Super-elastic effect of Nitinol Wire
This "hyperelasticity" allows you to use a Nitinol-wire device that has been bent, shaped or placed in your body. The tube can accommodate small grasping or biopsy tools that are smaller than those made from standard alloys. Nitinol is a lightweight alloy with unique properties that makes it ideal for biomedical applications. This includes heart valve tools, stents (stents), nails, bone anchors or complex diaphragm defects devices.

But heat-treating Nitinol to achieve the desired transition temperature is delicate. Temperature and age control the precipitation process of various Ni-rich phases. This is done to regulate the nickel content within the lattice. Aging decreases the nickel matrix, increasing the transition temperature. It is crucial to combine heat treatment with cold work in order to control the properties and alloy Nitinol.

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