The use of shape memory alloys to manufacture implantable medical devices represents a high-growth portion of the medical materials market today. The ability of these specialized alloys to expand or ...

The basis of the nickel-titanium shape memory alloy (SMA) class is the intermetallic equiatomic binary alloy NiTi. Its moderate solubility range allows its composition to be changed, and also enables ...

Recently, I reported on self-healing epoxy research that may allow the materials to recover the properties of virgin epoxy after damage. That method has the fundamental limitation of needing a high ...

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) provide new insights in biomedical engineering with the unique properties they exhibit, in applications such as cardiovascular stents, guide wires and organ frame retractors ...

Endowed with the power of memory, certain alloys can magically return to their original shape when heated or deformed. However, the repeated back-and-forth between the original and new configuration ...

Shape memory materials, also known as "metal muscles" or "artificial muscles," have the ability to snap back into their original shape after being stretched, squashed, bent, or otherwise deformed. If ...

A team of researchers has discovered that the Mg-Sc alloy shows shape memory properties. Shape memory alloys (SMAs) show distinctive behaviors such as shape recovery upon heating and have a ...

Laser powder bed fusion, a 3D-printing technique, offers potential in the manufacturing industry, particularly when fabricating nickel-titanium shape memory alloys with complex geometries. Although ...

Having a home near a busy airport certainly has its perks. It is close to many establishments and alleviates the problem of wading through endless traffic to catch flights. But it does come at a cost ...

Imagine a world of shape-shifters. A surgeon inserts a small lump of plastic into an anesthetized patient and, like magic, it expands into a life-saving mesh tube that keeps a formerly clogged artery ...

Stimulus-responsive shape-memory materials have attracted tremendous research interests recently, with much effort focused on improving their mechanical actuation. Driven by the needs of ...

Advanced monitoring methods were used throughout testing to track structural behavior. Digital imaging systems observed crack development, while embedded fiber-optic sensors measured strain ...