Patent ID: 9273369
Filing Date: 2016-03-01
CPC Classification: C21D,C22C,C22F,G01L,G01N

Claim Text:
1. An apparatus configured to stabilize a strain-temperature response for a shape memory alloy, comprising: a multi-axial deformation unit configured to simultaneously apply shear and normal stresses to a shape memory alloy; and a temperature unit selected from the group consisting of an induction heater, a resistance heater furnace, a tape heater and a resistance joule heater, configured to supply a stable temperature or cycle a temperature from a minimum temperature to a maximum temperature; a gauge to measure the corresponding shear and normal deformations or strains when applying an isobaric treatment at constant pressure to a first sample of said shape memory alloy, the multi-axial deformation unit is configured to apply a constant stress to the first sample and the temperature unit is configured to cycle temperature from a minimum temperature to a maximum temperature until the strain or the deformation within the first sample stabilizes to provide a stabilized strain value at the constant pressure; one of a determining unit or a controller configured to compare and determine whether the strains have stabilized, and when applying an isothermal treatment to a second sample, the multi-axial deformation unit is further configured to apply different levels of stress on the second sample until a strain on the second sample matches the stabilized strain value on the first sample to produce a material that is equally stabile under conditions equivalent to the deformation/strain levels achieved under isobaric conditions.