Nanocrystalline shape memory alloys lose their memory as the crystalline grains get smaller
Wednesday, February 24, 2016 - 08:00
in Physics & Chemistry
The ability of shape memory alloys, used as materials for medical stents, to revert to their original shape after an increase in temperature is suppressed at nanometer grain sizes due to effects related to the larger proportion of grain boundaries, according to a mathematical model developed by A*STAR researchers. This finding helps explain shape memory loss in and increase our understanding of nanocrystalline shape memory materials, which will lead to improvements in the design of such devices.