Patents Assigned to The United States of America as Represented by the Administraton of National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • Patent number: 8409372
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for stabilizing the strain-temperature response for a shape memory alloy are provided. To perform stabilization of a second sample of the shape memory alloy, a first sample of the shape memory alloy is selected for isobaric treatment and the second sample is selected for isothermal treatment. When applying the isobaric treatment to the first sample, a constant stress is applied to the first sample. Temperature is also cycled from a minimum temperature to a maximum temperature until a strain on the first sample stabilizes. Once the strain on the first sample stabilizes, the isothermal treatment is performed on the second sample. During isothermal treatment, different levels of stress on the second sample are applied until a strain on the second sample matches the stabilized strain on the first sample.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2013
    Assignee: The United States of America as Represented by the Administraton of National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventor: Santo A Padula, II