Additive Manufacturing of Shape Memory Devices and Pseudoelastic Components

Author(s):  
Christoph Haberland ◽  
Mohammad Elahinia ◽  
Jason Walker ◽  
Horst Meier ◽  
Jan Frenzel

Processing of Nickel-Titanium shape memory alloys (NiTi) is by no means easy because all processing steps can strongly affect the properties of the material. Hence, near-net-shaping technologies are very attractive for processing NiTi due to reduction of the processing route. Additive Manufacturing (AM) provides especially promising alternatives to conventional processing because it offers unparalleled freedom of design. In the last 5 years AM of NiTi received little attention from academics and researchers and, therefore, is far from being established for processing NiTi today. This work is to highlight the current state of the art of using the AM technique Selective Laser Melting (SLM) for processing high quality NiTi parts. For this reason, fundamentals for SLM processing of NiTi are described. It is shown in detail that a careful control of process parameters is of great importance. Furthermore, this work characterizes structural and functional properties like shape recovery, referring to the shape memory effect in Ti-rich SLM NiTi, or pseudoelasticy in Ni-rich SLM NiTi. It is shown that both types of shape memory effects can be adjusted in SLM NiTi by the choice of the raw material and processing strategy. By comparing the properties of SLM NiTi to those of conventionally processed NiTi, this work clearly shows that SLM is an attractive manufacturing method for production of high quality NiTi parts.

Author(s):  
Jason Walker ◽  
Mohsen Taheri Andani ◽  
Christoph Haberland ◽  
Mohammad Elahinia

The pseudoelastic and shape memory effects of NiTi can be used in passive or active actuation systems. Often used in the aerospace industry, the use of NiTi for actuation is also growing in the biomedical fields and elsewhere. However, it’s potential in industry is currently limited by the inability to produce complex NiTi parts. Conventional manufacturing processes are complicated by the extreme difficulty associated with machining NiTi. Furthermore, the transformation temperatures which drive the unique behavior of NiTi as a shape memory alloy are extremely sensitive to the relative concentrations of nickel and titanium. Therefore, exceptionally tight compositional control during production is necessary to guarantee ideal material behavior. Additive manufacturing (AM) is a near-net-shaping technology which allows for the direct fabrication of complex metallic components. By utilizing the AM processing principle, the poor machinability of NiTi is no longer an issue. Using AM also enables production of 3D geometries that are not possible using traditional techniques. Furthermore, direct CAD fabrication reduces the timescale of the concept-to-prototype transition. In the present work, an SLM machine (Phenix Systems PXM) is used to develop NiTi components directly from powder. The thermal characteristics and shape memory functionality of SLM NiTi components is demonstrated.


Author(s):  
Jason Walker ◽  
Mohammad Elahinia ◽  
Christoph Haberland

Nitinol’s superelastic and shape memory effects can be used in passive or active actuation systems. Often used in the aerospace industry, the use of Nitinol for actuation is also growing in the biomedical fields and elsewhere. However, the industry currently lacks the ability to produce complex Nitinol actuators, which is strictly limiting its potential. The extreme difficulty of machining Nitinol complicates manufacturing processes. Furthermore, the transformation temperatures which drive Nitinol’s unique behavior are extremely sensitive to the relative concentrations of nickel and titanium. Therefore, exceptionally tight compositional control during production is necessary to guarantee ideal material behavior. Additive manufacturing (AM) is a near-net-shaping technology which allows for the direct fabrication of complex metallic components. In this way, the (lack of) machinability of Nitinol is no longer an issue because no traditional machining is required during fabrication. Using AM also enables production of 3D geometries that are not possible using traditional techniques. Features such as engineered porosity, hollow parts, curved holes and filigree structures are suddenly realizable. Furthermore, direct CAD fabrication reduces the timescale of the concept-to-prototype transition. A major breakthrough in additive manufacturing came with the development of fiber laser technology in the mid-1990’s, which enables direct melting of manufacturing grade metals into fully dense parts. This technology became known as selective laser melting (SLM). Despite its huge potential, SLM of Nitinol has received little attention from the engineering world. In the present work, two different SLM machines (Realzier SLM 100 and Phenix Systems PXM) are used to develop Nitinol components directly from powder. Adjustment and optimization of the process parameters on the product are analyzed and compared.


2014 ◽  
Vol 217-218 ◽  
pp. 347-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jokin Lozares ◽  
Zigor Azpilgain ◽  
Iñaki Hurtado ◽  
Iñigo Loizaga

Due to the current trend in prices of raw material and their sources, near net shaping of mechanical components will become a key factor for the companies to get the desired competitiveness. Semisolid metal (SSM) forming is one of those near net shape forming techniques revealing a high potential to reduce material as well as energy consumption compared to conventional process technologies. Thus, the aim of this research work is to demonstrate the above by manufacturing a steel commercial automotive spindle by thixo-lateral forming from three different steel grades. The starting material, the microstructure and mechanical properties are analysed along the article. Material savings of 20% have been reported together with a substantial decrease of the forming forces. In addition, great mechanical properties have been achieved which brings the process closer to the desired final industrial application.


Metals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jokin Lozares ◽  
Gorka Plata ◽  
Iñaki Hurtado ◽  
Andrea Sánchez ◽  
Iñigo Loizaga

Near solidus forming (NSF) of steels is a novel process under the umbrella of semi-solid forming technologies midway between classical hot forging and semi-solid technologies. This article presents the work done at Mondragon Unibertsitatea to develop this technology and demonstrates the great potential of the NSF process. The study proves the capability of the process to reduce raw material consumption by 20%, reduce forming loads from 2100 t to 300 t, and reduce forming steps from three to one, to obtain as-forged mechanical properties, as well as the excellent repeatability of the process. The work demonstrates that manufacturing commercial steel components in a single step using several off-the-shelf alloys is possible thanks to the flowing pattern of the material, which enables near-net shaping. In the first part of the article, a general overview of the semi-automated near solidus forming cell, together with a description of the NSF manufacturing trials, is provided, followed by the presentation and discussion of the results for the selected steel alloys.


Author(s):  
Yingbin Hu ◽  
Hui Wang ◽  
Weilong Cong

Abstract Owing to its high stiffness and strength, low density, and excellent flexibility, nano-sized graphene oxide (GO) is considered as a competitive material to reinforce metallic materials. Conventional manufacturing methods for GO reinforced metal matrix fabrication include casting and powder metallurgy, both of which demonstrate disadvantages of high reinforcement agglomeration, high cost, and difficulty in fabrication of complex structures. To reduce these problems, it is important to investigate a finely-controlled, cost-saving, and near-net-shaping process for GO reinforced metal matrix manufacturing. Laser additive manufacturing is such a process that mainly includes selective laser sintering / melting (SLS / M) and laser deposition-additive manufacturing (LD-AM). Compared with SLS / M, LD-AM demonstrates parts remanufacturing capability and is capable of fabricating functionally gradient materials. In this investigation, GO reinforced Inconel 718 (IN718) parts, for the first time, are fabricated using LD-AM processes. The effects of GO on flatness, surface roughness, microstructure, microhardness, and wear resistance of LD-AM fabricated GO reinforced IN718 parts are studied. Experimental results show that the introduction of GO is beneficial for enhancing both microhardness and wear resistance but harmful to surface quality of fabricated parts. In addition, the presence of GO has little influence on microstructures.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 104002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Haberland ◽  
Mohammad Elahinia ◽  
Jason M Walker ◽  
Horst Meier ◽  
Jan Frenzel

Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dilip Chalissery ◽  
Thorsten Pretsch ◽  
Sarah Staub ◽  
Heiko Andrä

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are stimuli-responsive materials, which are able to retain an imposed, temporary shape and recover the initial, permanent shape through an external stimulus like heat. In this work, a novel manufacturing method is introduced for thermoresponsive quick response (QR) code carriers, which originally were developed as anticounterfeiting technology. Motivated by the fact that earlier manufacturing processes were sometimes too time-consuming for production, filaments of a polyester urethane (PEU) with and without dye were extruded and processed into QR code carriers using fused filament fabrication (FFF). Once programmed, the distinct shape memory properties enabled a heating-initiated switching from non-decodable to machine-readable QR codes. The results demonstrate that FFF constitutes a promising additive manufacturing technology to create complex, filigree structures with adjustable horizontal and vertical print resolution and, thus, an excellent basis to realize further technically demanding application concepts for shape memory polymers.


Author(s):  
Peter Francis Reginald Elvis ◽  
Senthilkumaran Kumaraguru

Abstract In the past few years, Hybrid Additive Manufacturing has emerged to take advantage of both Additive Manufacturing and Subtractive Manufacturing processes and also to overcome the limitation of one process with the other. In aerospace applications, material wastage has become an issue in conventional machining process which reflects in total production cost and time. Especially, when dealing with expensive materials, conventional processes lack material efficiency with high buy-to-fly ratio which results in increased material cost. This paper deals with Hybrid Additive Manufacturing involving two different volume partitioning strategies — (i) Feature-based volume partitioning method (ii) Stock-based near net-shaping volume partitioning method to discuss the economics and material efficiency of Hybrid Additive Manufacturing process via simple cost estimator (formulated from the existing literature) by comparing these two volume partitioning strategies through suitable case studies — (i) Turbine blade and (ii) Impeller. From the results, it was found that the feature-based volume partitioning method was found to be material efficient and cost effective than the stock based near net shaping volume partitioning method in both the case studies.


Author(s):  
Christoph Haberland ◽  
Horst Meier ◽  
Jan Frenzel

Processing of Nickel-Titanium (NiTi) shape memory alloys (SMAs) is challenging because smallest compositional variances and all types of microstructural features strongly affect the elementary processes of the martensitic transformation and thus the functional properties of the material. Against this background, powder metallurgical near net shape methods are attractive for the production of NiTi components. Especially additive manufacturing technologies (AM) seem to provide high potential, although they have received only little attention for processing NiTi so far. This work is the first to report on pseudoelastic properties of additive manufactured Ni-rich NiTi. We show how to establish pseudoelasticity in NiTi samples prepared by the additive manufacturing technique Selective Laser Melting (SLM). Therefore, we analyze phase transformation behavior, mechanical characteristics and functional properties of our materials subjected to different heat treatments. The obtained results are compared to the behavior of conventional NiTi. The presented results clearly indicate that SLM provides a promising processing route for the fabrication of high quality NiTi parts.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document