Thesis ( MTech(Mechanical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / This study deals with the development of aero morphing reinforced composite materials embedded with NiTi alloys. It is shown that the composite materials can be manufactured using resin infusion process to produce better mechanical properties such as tensile strength and material stiffness. These composite materials are modelled experimentally using temperature and time parameters. The object of the modelling is to determine the effect of process temperature on the smart material alloy (SMA). As a result, a composite structural designer would now possess an added dimension in optimising material design. In addition, the study is conducted to analyse the structural behaviour of composite materials when embedded and when not embedded with NiTi alloys. The analysis is constrained to the evaluation of material tensile strength and stiffness upon performance of composite structures. A macro mechanical approach is employed to perform the analysis in specimens with different fibre orientation [0°, 45° and 90°]. The estimation of tensile strength and stiffness parameters is based on the characteristics obtained from a macro mechanical approach. The orientation which posses the best material properties is selected to embed NiTi alloys. The experimental results of unembedded specimens are validated with the application of micromechanics equations and an Ansys software finite element modelling tool. There is fair agreement between the finite element simulation of macro mechanical test of the specimens and the measured experimental results. Although the macro mechanical approach is found to be successful, it is imperative to characterise the material interface strength of embedded specimens using a pull out test. The pullout test showed to some great extent the properties of reinforced composite embedded with NiTi alloys.

The cyclic instability in shape memory characteristics of NiTi-based shape memory alloys (SMAs), such as transformation temperatures, transformation and irrecoverable strains and transformation hysteresis upon thermal and mechanical cycling limits their applications requiring high number of cycles. The main reasons for these instabilities are lattice incompatibility between transforming phases and relatively low lattice resistance against dislocation motion. The objective of this study is to increase the slip resistance and thus, to minimize the plastic accommodation upon phase transformation in NiTi and TiNiPd SMAs. The effects of grain refinement down to submicron to nanorange through Equal Channel Angular Extrusion (ECAE) on the cyclic stability were investigated as potential remedies. The influence of ECAE parameters, such as processing temperature and strain path on the microstructural refinement was explored as well as the corresponding evolution in the stress differential between the yield strength of martensite and the critical stress to induce martensite and SMA characteristics of Ni49.7Ti50.3, Ti50Ni30Pd20, and Ti50.3Ni33.7Pd16 SMAs. Severe plastic deformation via ECAE at temperatures from 300°C up to 450°C refined the grains from 50μm down to a range between 0.03μm and 0.3μm in Ni49.7Ti50.3 and 0.5μm and 1μm in TiNiPd alloys. Regardless of the material, the lower the ECAE temperature and the higher the ECAE strain path, the better the cyclic stability. ECAE led to an increase in the stress differential between the yield strength of martensite and critical stress to induce martensite due to observed microstructural refinement and this increase is responsible for the improvement in the cyclic stability of the aforementioned SMA characteristics in all investigated materials. Addition of Pd to the NiTi alloy reduced the thermal hysteresis from 36°C down to 11°C, and enhanced the cyclic stability of the SMA characteristics. In additions to positive influence of ECAE on cyclic stability, it also led to an increase in the fracture stress levels of the TiNiPd alloys due to the fragmentation or dissolution of the precipitates responsible for the premature failures. ECAE caused a slight reduction in the work output; however it was possible to obtain large stable work outputs under higher stress levels than unprocessed materials.

The cyclic instability in shape memory characteristics of NiTi-based shape memory alloys (SMAs), such as transformation temperatures, transformation and irrecoverable strains and transformation hysteresis upon thermal and mechanical cycling limits their applications requiring high number of cycles. The main reasons for these instabilities are lattice incompatibility between transforming phases and relatively low lattice resistance against dislocation motion. The objective of this study is to increase the slip resistance and thus, to minimize the plastic accommodation upon phase transformation in NiTi and TiNiPd SMAs. The effects of grain refinement down to submicron to nanorange through Equal Channel Angular Extrusion (ECAE) on the cyclic stability were investigated as potential remedies. The influence of ECAE parameters, such as processing temperature and strain path on the microstructural refinement was explored as well as the corresponding evolution in the stress differential between the yield strength of martensite and the critical stress to induce martensite and SMA characteristics of Ni49.7Ti50.3, Ti50Ni30Pd20, and Ti50.3Ni33.7Pd16 SMAs. Severe plastic deformation via ECAE at temperatures from 300°C up to 450°C refined the grains from 50μm down to a range between 0.03μm and 0.3μm in Ni49.7Ti50.3 and 0.5μm and 1μm in TiNiPd alloys. Regardless of the material, the lower the ECAE temperature and the higher the ECAE strain path, the better the cyclic stability. ECAE led to an increase in the stress differential between the yield strength of martensite and critical stress to induce martensite due to observed microstructural refinement and this increase is responsible for the improvement in the cyclic stability of the aforementioned SMA characteristics in all investigated materials. Addition of Pd to the NiTi alloy reduced the thermal hysteresis from 36°C down to 11°C, and enhanced the cyclic stability of the SMA characteristics. In additions to positive influence of ECAE on cyclic stability, it also led to an increase in the fracture stress levels of the TiNiPd alloys due to the fragmentation or dissolution of the precipitates responsible for the premature failures. ECAE caused a slight reduction in the work output; however it was possible to obtain large stable work outputs under higher stress levels than unprocessed materials.

Regarding the higher demand of the total joint replacement (TJR) and revision surgeries in recent years, an implant material should provide much longer lifetime without failure. Nickel titanium (NiTi) is the most popular shape memory alloy in the industry, especially in medical devices due to its unique mechanical properties such as pseudo-elasticity, damping capacity, shape memory and good biocompatibility. However, concerns of nickel ion release of this alloy still exist if it is implanted for a prolonged period of time. Nickel is well known for the possibility of causing allergic response and degeneration of muscle tissue as well as being carcinogenic for the human body beyond a certain threshold. Therefore, drastically improving the surface properties (e.g. wear resistance) of NiTi is a vital step for its adoption as orthopaedic implants. To overcome the above-mentioned risks, different surface treatment techniques have been proposed and investigated, such as Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD), Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD), ion implantation, plasma spraying, etc. Yet all of these techniques have similar limitations such as high treatment temperature, poor metallurgical bonding between coated film and substrate, and lower flexibility and efficiency. As a result, laser gas nitriding would be an ideal treatment method as it could overcome these drawbacks. Moreover, the shape memory effect and pseudo-elasticity of NiTi from a reversible phase transformation between the martensitic phase and the austenitic phase are very sensitive to heat. Hence, NiTi implant is subjected to the following provisions of the thermo-mechanical treatment process, and this implant provides desired characteristics. It is important to suggest a surface treatment, which would not disturb the original build-in properties. As a result, the low-temperature methods for substrate have to be employed on the surface of NiTi. This present study aims to investigate the feasibility of applying diffusion laser gas nitriding technique to improve the wettability and wear resistance of NiTi as well as establish the optimization technique. The current report summaries the result of laser nitrided NiTi by continuous-wave (CW) fibre laser in nitrogen environment. The microstructure, surface morphology, wettability, wear resistance of the coating layer has been analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), sessile drop technique, 3-D profile measurement and reciprocating wear test. The resulting surface layer is free of cracks, and the wetting behaviour is better than the bare NiTi. The wear resistance of the optimised nitride sample with different hatch patterns is also evaluated using reciprocating wear testing against ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) in Hanks’ solution. The results indicate that the wear rates of the nitride samples and the UHMWPE counter-part were both significantly reduced. It is concluded that the diffusion laser gas nitriding is a potential low-temperature treatment technique to improve the surface properties of NiTi. This technique can be applied to a femoral head or a bone fixation plates with relatively large surface area and movable components.

La rétention aiguë d'urine est la complication la plus grave de l'hyperplasie bénigne de la prostate. Elle est aujourd'hui traitée en urgence par cathétérisation, ce qui expose le patient à un important risque infectieux. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, un stent urétral innovant a été développé afin de remplacer la cathétérisation. Ce stent utilise des échantillons filiformes d'alliage à mémoire de forme Nickel-Titane, lui conférant deux mémoires de forme distinctes au chauffage, et permettant ainsi une pose et une ablation simplifiées.Afin de convenablement dimensionner les éléments constitutifs de ce stent, un dispositif permettant la réalisation d'essais de flexion pure à haute déformation sur des échantillons de géométrie filiforme a été conçu. Ce dispositif a permis la caractérisation de fils et tubes de NiTi en flexion pure, ainsi que l'étude du phénomène de localisation qui est survenue lors de ces essais.Une méthode numérique permettant l'identification des lois de comportement matériau à partir d'essais expérimentaux à champ de contrainte non uniforme a été développée. Cette méthode a notamment permis d'identifier le comportement en compression uni-axiale de fils et tubes de NiTi, à partir de résultats expérimentaux obtenus en flexion pure et en traction uni-axiale. / Acute urinary retention is the major complication of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Today, the first line treatment consists in emergency catheterization, which often leads to urinary infection. This thesis aimed at developing an innovative nitinol based stent as a alternative treatment for acute urinary retention. Using a combination of NiTi wires and tubes, this stent is given two distinct shape memories during heating.The stent components are mostly loaded under pure bending during the stent activation. A pure bending apparatus allowing large deformations on slender specimens was thus designed. This device gave access to the NiTi wires and tubes behaviour under pure bending, and also provided information about localization phenomena during pure bending experiment.A numerical method able to identify the shear-stress shear-strain function from experimental pure torsion tests, and the stress strain function under compressive load from experimental uni-axial tensile and pure bending tests was also developed. This method was applied using afore-obtained numerical results to identify the NiTi wires and tubes behaviour under uni-axial compressive load.

In this work, beneficial effects of tensile mean strain on fatigue behavior and microstructure of superelastic NiTi (i.e. Nitinol) are studied. Most applications, such as endovascular stents made with NiTi, are subjected to a combination of constant and cyclic loading; thus, understanding the fatigue behavior of NiTi undergoing mean strain loading is necessary. Cyclic strain-controlled fatigue tests are designed to investigate the effects of tensile mean strain on fatigue of superelastic NiTi. Experimental observations show that combinations of large tensile mean strains and small strain amplitudes improve the fatigue life of superelastic NiTi. This behavior arises from reversible, stress-induced phase transformations. The phase transformations cause “stress plateaus” or strain ranges with no change in stress value. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the fracture surfaces of specimens revealed generally short crack growth. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) found the amount of residual martensite to be about ~8%, regardless of loading conditions

Introduction: One of the key prerequisites of high-quality endodontic treatment is the use of endodontic NiTi instruments for the preparation of root canals. The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate the effect of individual factors which influence the life of endodontic instruments during the clinical treatment of root canals. The dissertation will evaluate the effect the curvature of the canals, the shape of the tip of the instrument, the speed and type of rotation, and the influence of sterilization. The effect of low-temperature plasma nitriding on the fatigue life of the instruments will also be investigated. Materials and methods: Several endodontic systems used for the machine preparation of root canals were studied. The study focused predominantly on the cyclic fatigue of rotary endodontic instruments, wherein the files were rotated in artificial curved root canals. Additionally, the influence of sterilization on the life of the instruments was also examined. Finally, the instruments were treated using thermal plasma nitridation for the purpose of improving their properties. The instruments were then analyzed using a scanning electron microscope and a microhardness meter. Results: Testing cyclic fatigue in artificial root canals with radii R3 and R5 revealed that instruments with a...

Interest in superelastic (and shape memory) materials continues to rise, and there is a strong incentive to develop techniques for monitoring of their superelastic characteristics. This is conventionally done via uniaxial testing, but there are many advantages to having a capability for obtaining these characteristics (in the form of parameter values in a constitutive law) via indentation testing. Specimens can then be small, require minimal preparation and be obtainable from components in service. Interrogation of small volumes also allows mapping of properties over a surface. On the other hand, the tested volume must be large enough for its response to be representative of behaviour. Precisely the same arguments apply to more "mainstream" mechanical properties, such as yielding and work hardening characteristics. Indeed, there has been considerable progress in that area recently, using FEM simulation to predict indentation outcomes, evaluating the "goodness of fit" for particular sets of parameter values and converging on a best-fit combination. A similar approach can be used to obtain superelastic parameters, but little work has been done hitherto on sensitivities, uniqueness characteristics or optimal methodologies and the procedures are complicated by limitations to the constitutive laws in current use. The current work presents a comprehensive examination of the issues involved, using experimental (uniaxial and indentation) data for a NiTi Shape Memory Alloy. It was found that it is possible to obtain the superelastic parameter values using a single indenter shape (spherical). Information is also presented on sensitivities and the probable reliability of such parameters obtained in this way for an unknown material.

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Nickel-Titanium (NiTi) shape memory alloys have been the focus of extensive research due to its unique characteristics such as high recoverable strain and ductility. However, solutionized samples of NiTi do not demonstrate good shape memory characteristics due to low strength for dislocation slip. Thermo-mechanical treatments are required to strengthen the matrix and improve the shape memory characteristics. Plastic deformation and the subsequent annealing is the common way to improve shape memory properties. In this case, deformation magnitude, temperature, rate, mechanism, and annealing temperature and time are all important parameters for the final shape memory properties. Equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) is a well-known technique to severely deform materials by simple shear with no change in cross-section. In this study, Ti- 49.8 at% Ni samples are deformed by ECAE at three different temperatures near transformation temperatures. X-ray analysis, calorimetry, transmission electron microscopy and thermo-mechanical cycling techniques are utilized to investigate the effects of severe deformation and subsequent annealing treatment on shape memory properties. Martensite stabilization, formation of strain induced B2 phase, change in transformation temperatures, formation of new phases, recrystallization temperature, texture formation, and increase in strength and pseudoelastic strain are the main findings of this study. Co-32.9 at% Ni-29.5 at% Al is a newly found ferromagnetic alloy. Its low density, high melting temperature and cheap constituents make the alloy advantageous among other shape memory alloys. Although some magnetic properties of this alloy are known, there is no report on basic shape memory characteristics of CoNiAl. In this study, effect of thermo-mechanical treatments on the microstructure and shape memory characteristics such as transformation behavior, pseudoelasticity, stages of transformation, temperature dependence of the pseudoelasticity, response to thermal and stress cycling is investigated. Formation of second phase along the grain boundaries and inside the grains, about 4% pseudoelastic and two-way shape memory strain, very narrow stress hysteresis, large pseudoelastic window (>150°C), two-stage martensitic transformation, stable response to cyclic deformation, high strength for dislocation slip, slope of Clasius-Clapeyron curve, and twinning plane are determined for the first time in literature.