SUMMARY

The successful use of Nitinol in biomedical applications requires an accurate control of its unique mechanical properties. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of a wide range of heat treatments on the mechanical behavior of hot-rolled and cold-drawn Nitinol. Results comprise an understanding of the effect of heat treatment temperature and time variation on final material response which is imperative for optimization of material properties. Thirty-three heat treatment variations are tested by combining three durations, 10 minutes, 90 minutes, and 8 hours, with eleven different heat treatment temperatures between 200°C and 440°C. Nitinol samples undergo tensile testing with upper plateau strength, lower plateau strength, ultimate tensile strength, strain to failure, and residual elongation compared for all test groups. Heat treatment “power” is used to describe the efficacy of different combinations of heat treatment temperature and duration. When using hot-rolled Nitinol, results show a low heat treatment power does not create significant precipitation hardening or a significant decrease in martensite transformation stress, resulting in a high upper plateau strength, high residual strain values, and evidence of plastic deformation upon unloading. Moderate power treatments lead to sufficient hardening of the material and a decrease in martensite transformation stress resulting in a pseudoelastic response. Increasing to a high treatment power further decreases the transformation stress and increases the martensite transformation temperature leading to a shape-memory response. When using cold-drawn Nitinol, low and moderate heat treatment power levels result in the material exhibiting a pseudoelastic response. Increasing heat treatment power shows the same effects on martensite transformation stress and temperature as seen with the hot-rolled material resulting in a material response transition from pseudoelastic to shape memory.