Abstract

The application of small components of shape memory alloys (SMA) finds increasingly attention in miniaturized medical engineering as well as in micro system engineering. However, only a few processes are available for machining of miniaturized SMA-components. The main problem is not to modify the special shape memory properties by thermal influence or mechanical tensions. During the machining process, changes of the shape memory properties due to the extension of the heat effected zone or mechanical tensions have to be avoided. Especially for complex geometries with dimensions in the submillimeter-range these requirements are hardly to fullfill. At present, the lack of suitable manufacturing processes for the realisation of form-fitting combinations with different kinds of materials strongly limits the applications of miniaturized SMA-components. Micromachining of those components employed at this time (electroerosive micro-processing, electrochemical etching, micro-mechanical processing) are strongly limited with regard to their achievable rate of removal and their flexibility. Further disadvantageous characteristics of these processes are the high complexity and the limited handling capabilities.

© 1998 IEEE