Poro
us NiTi alloys are highly attractive for energy absorbers, damping devices and biomedical implants. In the present work, metal injection mo
ulding (MIM) in combination with the application of a s
uitable space holder material was
used for the prod
uction of NiTi parts with well defined pore sizes and porosities in the range of 30–70 vol. % . For comparing the properties, poro
us titani
um and Ti–6Al–4V samples were prepared in the same manner.
Focus of the present work was a detailed investigation of the mechanical properties of porous NiTi to estimate its potential regarding the abovementioned applications. For a Ni-rich NiTi alloy with a porosity of 50 vol. % , fully pronounced pseudoelasticity after 6 % compression was demonstrated. An energy dissipation of 1.5 MJ/mup>3up> was measured, which could be directly related to the reversible austenite–martensite phase transformation. At higher deformations, pseudoelasticity becomes more and more superposed by the onset of plastic deformation. Nevertheless, even at deformations of up to 50 % , a clearly pronounced amount of pseudoelastic shape recovery still remained. Fatigue of pseudoelasticity was investigated by conducting of up to 230,000 load cycles to 4 % compression at a frequency of 1 Hz.
