Nitinol sheet/etc. suppliers, as promised (and bonus shape-setting procedure)

[Tim]

(Re)Memorizing Nitinol SMA

Direct from the gurus :-)
Pop the SMA and shape setting jig into the oven at around 525degC for
at least 10 minutes or so (longer if the size of the SMA or jig makes
for a high thermal inertia), then quench in water bath. Without
removing from the shaping jig, heat again at ~ 475degC for 30-60min,
then allow to cool normally. The memorized Nitinol should have a
yellowish to bluish oxidized tint.

If you know the right people (or alloy) it's possible to get SMA with
different transition temperatures, ranging down to body temperature
and below. A running amusement at work is to pull a thick piece of
low-temp SMA from the freezer and effortlessly bend/fold/mutilate in
front of a customer/visitor, smoosh it flat again between your warm
hands for a couple seconds, then hand it to the mark to show off his
strength :-O

Sourcing more esoteric forms (tube, sheet, strip, bar stock...) and compositions

Beware, a solid sheet of SMA is deceptively much more material than a
piece of wire, and the prices scale skyward accordingly.

NDC (Nitinol Devices & Components) www.nitinol.com offers Nitinol in
tube and sheet form in addition to wire, but it's expensive. Their
minimum order price is $450.

From some Googling, http://www.memory-metalle.de also offers NiTi in
sheet form, multiple alloys available.

http://www.memry.com offers wire, strip and tube NiTi in a range of alloys.

Johnson Matthey Medical
(http://www.jmmedical.com/html/nitinol_technical_information.html#NitinolTechnicalInfo)
is our current supplier (tubing, wire, sheet), but I can't find any
pricing info.

Mide Technology Corp. (Disclaimer: I work here!) offers an "SMA
Starter Kit" containing a variery of sheet and wire samples plus a
manual with experiments and detailed hands-on technical knowledge
(http://www.mide.com/products/smartkit/prod_sma_smartkit.php). This is
mainly intended as a demo and teaching aid, but still not cheap (IIRC,
mostly due to the sheet SMA).

HTH
Tim / Drmn4ea

--
"If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it.
Now, quiet! They're about to announce the lottery numbers..." - Homer
Simpson

[AKA [nfeehan]]

Thanks very much, Tim - this is awesome!

noah feehan / AKA

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