Norman Noble, Cleveland, provides complete, single-source contract manufacturing of medical implants and devices made from superelastic and shape-memory Nitinol. It is one of the few companies that provides all elements of Nitinol manufacturing, including micromachining, shape-setting, and a proprietary automated electropolishing. It produces Nitinol products from wire, ribbon, strip, sheet, tubing, and bar, with custom designed and manufactured fixtures and optimal heat treat parameters.
Nitinol shape setting is the process by which the final, specified shape of the metal is configured and programmed. This requires specific thermal processing for each device, depending on the end use and end-use environment. Shape setting must also take into account the required final condition of the Nitinol, which may require different processing temperatures and exhibit different characteristics.
“Superelastic” and “shape memory” conditions are generally available in wire, ribbon, strip, sheet, tubing, and bar form. One of the most important challenges in the shape-setting process is optimizing the proper heat treatment parameters to achieve the nominal shape and mechanical properties of the part. Nitinol shape setting requires careful thermal manipulation of the material to achieve the specified phase transformation temperatures, which are critical to device functionality.
In addition to Nitinol component manufacturing, Norman Noble can confirm the physical and mechanical properties of the finished part by means of DSC (differential scanning calorimeter), BFR (bend and free recovery), and temperature controlled tensile testing.
https://nnoble.com
