| Surface Strain Verification for a Fatigue Study | ||
| Mr. Z.C. Lin, David Mackiewicz and Ms. Kelly Pike, Guidant Corporation, 3200 Lakeside Drive, Santa Clara, CA 95054
To determine the fatigue characteristics of nitinol specimens, fatigue life is plotted against strain. Finite element analysis is typically utilized to calculate the strain of the part when the specimen is too small to allow attachment of a strain gage. In this study, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was employed to measure strain during the specimen deformation. Fatigue tests were conducted based on the SEM detected deformation and the fatigue life as a function of strain was plotted. | ||