The Tomsk University Laboratory for Physics of High-Strength Crystals, Russia, announces that its researchers have designed a new high-strength iron-base shape-memory alloy whose properties are developed through a heat treatment technology that they have patented. “We especially use iron-nickel-cobalt-aluminum, plus a fifth element that could be titanium, niobium, or tantalum,” says Prof. Yury Chumlyakov, head of the laboratory. “These alloys can compete with nickel titanium.”
In particular, the researchers claim that the alloys have a reversible change in shape of about 15%, while nickel-titanium alloys have about 10%. Thus, the sensors and actuators made of the alloys would work more effectively. The iron-base alloys are also said to have high strength, important for practical use in devices that must withstand high external loads, such as components for the aerospace and engineering industries.
The laboratory researchers emphasize that these sensors and actuation devices would be not only stronger, but also cheaper than nickel-titanium. Thus, they can reduce the cost of production of household equipment, fire alarm sensors, connecting elements for aerospace and automotive components, and many other devices.
The scientists developed the material within the framework of the project called “Mechanisms of Phase and Structural Transformations in High-Strength Crystals of Iron and Nickel-Titanium Based Alloys with Conventional and Magnetic Shape Memory Effect.” This project is supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation in the amount of $790,000. The goal of the program is to improve the quality of actuating mechanisms and sensors for mechanical engineering, aerospace, and other industries. The laboratory plans to continue studying these alloys.
The results of their study were presented at the international conference Alloys with Shape Memory Effect (St. Petersburg).
http://en.tsu.ru/news/tsu-physicists-have-created-a-high-strength-material-for-the-aerospace/
