Processing of Ni30Pt20Ti50 High-Temperature Shape-Memory Alloy Into Thin Rod Demonstrated

High-temperature shape-memory alloys (HTSMAs) based on nickel-titanium (NiTi) with significant ternary additions of palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), gold (Au), or hafnium (Hf) have been identified as potential high-temperature actuator materials for use up to 500 C. These materials provide an enabling technology for the development of "smart structures" used to control the noise, emissions, or efficiency of gas turbine engines. The demand for these high-temperature versions of conventional shape-memory alloys also has been growing in the automotive, process control, and energy industries. However these materials, including the NiPtTi alloys being developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center, will never find widespread acceptance unless they can be readily processed into useable forms.