Comparative study of samples of NiTi produced by powder metallurgy

Abstract

The NiTi is an equiatomic Nickel and Titanium alloy that presents excellent properties as biocompatibility, shape memory and superelasticity. The Laboratory of Metal Forming (LdTM-Ufrgs) is carrying out many different experiments aiming the production of NiTi alloys using conventional powder metallurgy (PM) and powder injection molding (PIM), the characterization and processing possibilities through metal forming. The use of NiTi alloy in medical devices is also being explored. This article presents a part of this project which is concerned with comparison between the chemical and metallurgical properties obtained in NiTi alloy from both processes (PIM and conventional PM). Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), measurements of micro hardness and nanohardness, metallography, porosity evaluation and analysis of the chemical composition with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), were carried out to evaluate the material and the possibilities of the two different methods concerning the achievable properties.

Key words: NiTi, conventional powder metallurgy, powder injection molding.