Nickel-Titanium Ni70/Ti30 powder, commonly known as Nitinol powder, represents the shape memory alloy in finely divided particulate form, enabling advanced manufacturing techniques including additive manufacturing, powder metallurgy, and thermal spray coatings. This near-equiatomic Ni-Ti composition exhibits the remarkable shape memory effect and superelasticity that have revolutionized biomedical devices, actuators, and adaptive structures.
Material Overview
Ni70/Ti30 powder typically features particle sizes from 15 to 150 μm produced via gas atomization, plasma atomization, or hydride-dehydride processes, with spherical morphology preferred for additive manufacturing applications [1]. The powder composition is critical, as even minor variations in Ni:Ti ratio dramatically affect transformation temperatures and functional properties. Martensitic transformation temperatures typically range from −50°C to +100°C depending on precise composition and thermal processing [2]. The powder exhibits density of approximately 6.45 g/cm3, with oxygen content requiring strict control below 1000 ppm to maintain superelastic properties and prevent brittle intermetallic formation [3]. Shape memory effect enables recovery of up to 8% strain upon heating above austenite finish temperature, while superelasticity provides recoverable strains of 6-8% at temperatures above austenite finish. The material demonstrates excellent biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, and fatigue life exceeding 107 cycles under appropriate loading conditions [1].
Applications and Advantages
Nitinol powder serves as feedstock for selective laser melting and electron beam melting additive manufacturing of complex biomedical implants, including patient-specific orthopedic devices, cardiovascular stents, and dental appliances [2]. Powder metallurgy techniques utilize the material for fabricating porous Nitinol structures for bone implants with controlled porosity matching natural bone [4]. Thermal spray coatings deposited from Nitinol powder provide shape memory and superelastic functionality to conventional substrates for adaptive aerospace structures and vibration damping systems. Metal injection molding employs the powder for producing small, complex actuator components and micro-devices. Research applications include smart material composites, energy absorption systems, and adaptive structures exploiting the powder's unique thermomechanical properties [3]. The powder form enables compositional grading and functionally graded materials combining Nitinol with other alloys for tailored property profiles. Emerging applications include 4D printing of self-assembling structures and morphing components activated by temperature changes.
Goodfellow Availability
Goodfellow supplies Nickel-Titanium Ni70/Ti30 powder in controlled particle size distributions to meet additive manufacturing, powder metallurgy, and coating applications. Custom specifications are available to support specialized research and biomedical device development.
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References
- [1] Elahinia, M., Moghaddam, N. S., Andani, M. T., et al. (2016). Fabrication of NiTi through additive manufacturing: A review. Progress in Materials Science, 83, 630-663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmatsci.2016.08.001
- [2] Otsuka, K., & Ren, X. (2005). Physical metallurgy of Ti–Ni-based shape memory alloys. Progress in Materials Science, 50(5), 511-678. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmatsci.2004.10.001
- [3] Duerig, T., Pelton, A., & Stöckel, D. (1999). An overview of nitinol medical applications. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 273-275, 149-160. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-5093(99)00294-4
- [4] Bansiddhi, A., Sargeant, T. D., Stupp, S. I., et al. (2008). Porous NiTi for bone implants: A review. Acta Biomaterialia, 4(4), 773-782. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2008.02.009