A method may include fused filament fabricating a fused filament fabricated component by delivering a softened filament to selected locations at or adjacent to a build surface. The softened filament may include a sacrificial binder and a powder including a shape memory alloy (SMA). The method also may include removing substantially all the sacrificial binder from the fused filament fabricated component to leave an unsintered component; and sintering the unsintered component to join particles of the SMA and form an SMA component.

The present invention relates to a tube member having excellent local bending properties that is capable of being freely bent only on a given region thereof at a working temperature, thereby enabling the bending angle thereof to be freely adjusted by a user, and a method for manufacturing the tube member. According to the present invention, the tube member having excellent local bending properties, which is made of an alloy, may include a first region and a second region having different alloy structures from each other. According to the present invention, the first region may be in a cold-worked state or have an austenite phase at a given working temperature, and the second region may have a martensite phase at the given working temperature and a yield stress value lower than a yield stress value of the first region.

A susceptor heating element is provided for an aerosol-generating device, the susceptor heating element being configured to heat an aerosol-forming substrate when received in the aerosol-generating device, and the aerosol-forming device including an induction coil configured to generate an alternating magnetic field when an alternating current is provided to the induction coil, the susceptor heating element being formed from a shape-memory material. An aerosol-generating article is also provided.

Ternary and quaternary shape memory alloys, particularly nickel-titanium based quaternary and quaternary shape memory alloys, are disclosed and made by a method employing physical vapor deposition (PVD), such as by sputtering, of NiTiX, wherein X is a ternary metal constituent. By employing PVD processing, ternary and quaternary NiTi alloy bulk materials may be made in in the as-deposited state such that the configuration and conformation of a desired precursor material, e.g., wires, tubes, planar materials, curvilinear, or as the near finished end product, such as a hypotube for stent manufacture, semilunar for cardiac valves or conical for embolic or caval filters, is formed on a removable deposition substrate in the configuration and conformation of the precursor material or near-finished end product.

A nickel-titanium alloy with an average grain size of between 0.2 and 10 microns and a recoverable strain of greater than 9% is disclosed herein, in which the alloy is formed using a method which involves applying a shape set heat treatment to the nickel-titanium alloy. The heat treatment includes applying heat at a temperature between 225° C. and 350° C. for a period of time between 20 and 240 minutes.

An orthodontic bracket and archform system that uses friction-free mechanics are disclosed. The archform can have a male fastener that can be retained within an orthodontic bracket. The orthodontic bracket can have varying locking mechanism, such as deflectable tabs, springs, locking pins, and others, that can cooperate with features of the male fastener to prevent sliding between the archform and the bracket.

A device includes a capsule extending longitudinally from a proximal end to a distal end and including a channel extending therethrough. The capsule is releasably coupled to a proximal portion of the device. Device also includes a first arm rigidly fixed to the distal end of the capsule to extend distally therefrom. In addition, Device includes a second arm, a proximal end of which is slidably received within the capsule so that the second arm is movable between an open configuration, in which the second arm is moved laterally away from the first arm and a distal end of the second arm is moved distally past the distal end of the first arm, and a closed configuration, in which the second arm is moved toward the first arm and the distal end of the second arm is moved proximally toward the distal end of the first arm.

An electrical connector for connecting electrical conductors in an aircraft includes a pin having a first contact surface and a socket to receive the pin. The socket has a second contact surface contacting a first contact surface of the pin when the pin is in the socket. A securing part is positioned to apply a contact or clamping force pressing the contact surfaces against each other. The securing part includes a shape memory alloy to exist in a martensite an austenite phase depending on temperature of the securing part, wherein the securing part assumes a first pre-set shape when the temperature is below a first temperature threshold, and a second pre-set shape when the temperature is above a second temperature threshold higher than the first temperature threshold, wherein the contact or clamping force applied by the securing part in the second pre-set shape is greater than in the first pre-set shape.

A method of a forming a hollow, drug-eluting nitinol stent includes shaping a composite wire into a stent pattern, wherein the composite wire includes an inner member, a nitinol intermediate member, and an outer member. After the composite wire is shaped into the stent pattern, the composite wire is heat treated to set the nitinol intermediate member in the stent pattern. After heat treatment, the composite wire is processed to remove the outer member and the inner member without adversely affecting the intermediate member. Openings may be provided through the intermediate member and the lumen of the intermediate member may be filled with a substance to be eluted through the openings.

Methods for controlling properties of structural elements of implantable medical devices, where the structural elements contain shape memory alloys (SMAs) include promoting or inhibiting in vivo formation of R-phase crystal structure or converging or separating the R-phase from the austenite phase.