Characterization of a Smart Nitinol/Silicone Rubber Composite for using in Soft Tissue Replacements

A smart NiTi/Silicone rubber composite can imitate the intelligent behavior of a soft tissue with Compounding shape memory effect of NiTi strips with viscoelasticity behavior of the polymer. In the present investigation NiTi strips were embedded in a flexible HTV silicone host and then studied for composite applications. The interfacial adhesion force between the metallic constituent and the polymeric matrix was measured by pulling-out test. The results show that the samples including twoway shape memory metal had the more bonding forces comparing the one-way shape memory ones. The SEM observations and electrical resistivity (ER) measurements indicated that the curing treatment changes the transition points and the microstructure of the strips. These changes affect the shape memory behavior of the NiTi strips embedded within the composite segments.

Keywords:

NiTi/Silicone composite , Medical applications , Curing treatment , Smart material