Patent ID: 8282746

Claim:
A mechanical structure comprising: a crystalline superelastic alloy characterized by an average grain size and characterized by a martensitic phase transformation resulting from a mechanical stress input greater than a characteristic first critical stress; and a configuration of the superelastic alloy providing a geometric structural feature of the alloy having an extent that is no greater than about 200 micrometers and that is no larger than the average grain size of the alloy, the geometric feature being characterized by a merit index for mechanical damping, (1/π)E 1/2 (ΔW/W max ), that is at least about 0.5, where E is Young's modulus for the alloy feature, ΔW is dissipated energy per unit volume of the alloy feature for one cycle of phase transformation with the input mechanical stress, and W max is maximum stored mechanical energy per unit volume of the alloy feature for one cycle of phase transformation with the input mechanical stress.