Shape memory alloys
A shape-memory alloy (SMA) is an alloy that can be deformed when cold but returns to its pre-deformed ("remembered") shape when heated. It may also be called memory metal, memory alloy, smart metal, smart alloy, or muscle wire.
Parts made of shape-memory alloys can be lightweight, solid-state alternatives to conventional actuators such as hydraulic, pneumatic, and motor-based systems. They can also be used to make hermetic joints in metal tubing.
If an object becomes deformed, these materials are able to return to their original shape when a particular stimulus is applied, such as heat or light.
How does this work? When deformed, the internal crystalline structure is changed. Let it go and it stays as it is, permanently bent out of shape. Applying heat and it changes the crystalline structure inside changes into an entirely different form, prompting the object to revert back to its original shape.
"If you bend a pair of shape-memory eyeglasses, the stress you apply makes the titanium alloy from which they're made flip into an entirely different crystalline structure; let go and the crystalline structure reverts back again, so the glasses spring back to their original shape."
Futher reading on Shape Memory Materials: https://www.bpf.co.uk/plastipedia/applications/shape-memory-polymer.aspx This ability is known as the shape memory effect (SME) and can occur in alloys known as shape memory alloys (SMAs) and in polymers, in shape memory polymers (SMPs), but is also possible in shape memory hybrids (SMHs).
These all belong to a wider set of “smart materials”, also known as intelligent or responsive materials.
Dante's body suit is also made out of this smart memory material, allowing it to form a perfect fit on his body when it is not heated but becoming slightly looser and easier to get out of when heated.
Metals that are made out of SMAs can also reverse their dents when heat is applied. "Employing 9SMA0 materials in its crystalline phase makes it such that an impact could absorb energy, leaving a dent, but this could be reversed with local heating."
Parts made of shape-memory alloys can be lightweight, solid-state alternatives to conventional actuators such as hydraulic, pneumatic, and motor-based systems. They can also be used to make hermetic joints in metal tubing.
If an object becomes deformed, these materials are able to return to their original shape when a particular stimulus is applied, such as heat or light.
How does this work? When deformed, the internal crystalline structure is changed. Let it go and it stays as it is, permanently bent out of shape. Applying heat and it changes the crystalline structure inside changes into an entirely different form, prompting the object to revert back to its original shape.
"If you bend a pair of shape-memory eyeglasses, the stress you apply makes the titanium alloy from which they're made flip into an entirely different crystalline structure; let go and the crystalline structure reverts back again, so the glasses spring back to their original shape."
Futher reading on Shape Memory Materials: https://www.bpf.co.uk/plastipedia/applications/shape-memory-polymer.aspx This ability is known as the shape memory effect (SME) and can occur in alloys known as shape memory alloys (SMAs) and in polymers, in shape memory polymers (SMPs), but is also possible in shape memory hybrids (SMHs).
These all belong to a wider set of “smart materials”, also known as intelligent or responsive materials.
Dante's body suit is also made out of this smart memory material, allowing it to form a perfect fit on his body when it is not heated but becoming slightly looser and easier to get out of when heated.
Metals that are made out of SMAs can also reverse their dents when heat is applied. "Employing 9SMA0 materials in its crystalline phase makes it such that an impact could absorb energy, leaving a dent, but this could be reversed with local heating."
Type
Metal
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