Morrison, Keith R. M.S.M.S.E., Purdue University, August 2014. Nickel Aluminum Shape Memory Alloys via Molecular Dynamics. Major Professor: Alejandro Strachan. Shape memory materials are an important class of active materials with a wide range of applications in the aerospace, biomedical, and automobile industries. These materials exhibit the two unique properties of shape memory and superelast...

Shape-memory alloys are known to have two unique characteristics: a shape-memory effect and superelasticity. The shape-memory effect is the ability of the alloys to revert to their initial shape upon being heated until they enter their phase transformation temperature. Superelasticity is where the alloys exhibit comparatively large recoverable strain. Different families of shape-memory alloys h...

Superelastic metal microsprings fabricated by deterministic rolling of nanomembranes have been anisotropic-strain-engineered via glancing angle deposition. The advantageous applications of metal microsprings in liquid flow rate sensors and chemical-stimulated actuators due to their reliable superelasticity are demonstrated. Theoretical calculation of microspring elongation as a function of flow...