This article discusses the history of shape memory alloys (SMAs) along with their properties, capabilities, and crystallography, including phase transformations that occur during thermal treatment. It describes the thermomechanical behaviors of SMAs and explains how to characterize them using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) techniques as well as other methods. The article examines the most common shape memory alloys, namely, nickel-titanium and copper-base SMAs, and provides information on their respective properties.

This article focuses on the specific aspects of nitinol that are of interest to medical device designers. It describes the physical metallurgy, physical properties, and tensile properties of the nitinol. The article discusses the factors influencing superelastic shape memory effects, fatigue, and corrosion in medical device design. It reviews the biocompatibility of nitinol based on corrosion behavior. The article explains the general principles, potential pitfalls, and key properties for manufacturing, heat treatment, and processing of nitinol.

The term shape memory alloys (SMAs) refers to the group of metallic materials that demonstrate the ability to return to some previously defined shape or size when subjected to the appropriate thermal procedure. Materials that exhibit shape memory only upon heating are referred to as having a one-way shape memory. Some materials also undergo a change in shape upon recooling. These materials have a two-way shape memory. This article discusses the general characteristics of SMAs by using typical transformation versus temperature curve. It describes the processing, applications and properties (mechanical and physical) of commercial SMA alloys, namely nickel-titanium alloys and copper-base alloys.