Physical and Tensile Properties of NiTi Alloy by Selective Electron Beam Melting

Abstract

NiTi is characterized as a shape memory alloy that has found interesting applications from aerospace to biomedical engineering. The use of NiTi in biomedical applications is due to its excellent biocompatibility, shape memory and pseudoelastic properties. These properties make NiTi an excellent candidate for many functional designs in biomedical fields. However, difficulties in manufacturing and processing of this alloy are significant hindrance to widespread applications. Advances in additive manufacturing (AM) such as selective laser and electron beam techniques have provided opportunities in manufacturing complex shaped NiTi parts. In this research paper, we demonstrate manufacturing of NiTi parts using a selective electron beam melting (SEBM) technique. Complete evaluation of physical, chemical and mechanical properties was carried out to determine the suitability of SEBM process. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and metallographic analyses were employed for the thermal and structural characterizations. The obtained results suggest that it is imperative to, and challenging to control the additive manufacturing process in order to obtain the desired microstructures and avoid unwanted texture. An exhaustive heat treatment of the samples after SEBM process might also be necessary.