POST-PROCESSING OF NiTi ALLOYS: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

Nitinol (NiTi) exists in an equiatomic phase of Ni and Ti. Nitinol has growing applications in aerospace and medical industries due to its unique properties of pseudoelasticity, corrosion resistance, shape memory effect, and biocompatibility. NiTi can be produced by conventional and noncon-ventional manufacturing routes and its behavior can be modified by altering the composition, changing the porosity, and shape setting under varying thermal and mechanical treatment. After the fabrication, several post-processing operations are required on NiTi for desired application. This paper presents a brief on post-processing like machining, surface coating, and mechanical and thermal treatment for shape setting of NiTi alloys, and their issues and challenges.