Fatigue tests of superelastic NiTi wires: an analysis using factorial design in single cantilever bending

Abstract

This paper investigates the fatigue behavior of superelastic NiTi shape memory alloy thin wires with circular and rectangular cross-sections under single cantilever bending mode. A dynamic mechanical analyzer operating in single cantilever mode is employed as a testing machine. The fatigue life of the wires was analyzed at different strain amplitudes and loading frequencies. The simultaneous influence of these parameters was assessed through a factorial design with replication. Circular wires have higher fatigue life compared to rectangular wires. Higher strain amplitudes decrease the fatigue life of both circular and rectangular cross-section wires. On the other hand, the loading frequency strongly affected the rectangular cross-section wire, while having a significantly weaker effect on the circular wire. The NiTi wires showed fatigue lives between 103 and 105 cycles in the evaluated range of strain amplitude, which falls within the fatigue life observed for shape memory alloy (SMA) wires under similar loading conditions. Furthermore, the factorial design proved to be a valuable tool in the study of fatigue life of NiTi SMA, especially for the visualization and interpretation of the effect of the chosen variables.