Patent ID: 8388773

Claim:
A method of conditioning a thermally activated shape memory alloy wire so as to achieve steady state performance in an application, said method comprising: a). applying a load to, so as to produce tension in, the wire; b). determining a hard-stop location based on a predetermined Austenite free length, maximum allowable strain, and wire fatigue life, c). setting at least one hard-stop at the location wherein the hard-stop is spaced from the wire and load, and selectively engaging the wire and load, so as to limit strain in and prevent damage to the wire when in the Martensitic phase, or limit strain recovery when the wire transforms back to the Austenitic phase; d). incrementally increasing an input current and observing the wire, so as to determine a minimum current sufficient to completely transform the wire from a Martensitic phase to an Austenitic phase based on the load, wire type, and wire diameter; e). repetitively applying the minimum current to the wire over a plurality of cycles, such that the wire heats, so as to fully transform from the Martensitic and to the Austenitic phase, and then cools, so as to fully transform back to the Martensitic phase; f). plotting a steady-state wire strain when in the Martensitic and Austenitic phases for each cycle; and g). determining a final recoverable Austenitic strain, based on plotting the steady-state wire strain.