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Effect of Inclusion Size and Distribution on the Corrosion Behavior of Medical-Device Grade Nitinol Tubing

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Abstract

Nonmetallic inclusions in Nitinol, such as carbides (TiC) and intermetallic oxides (Ti4Ni2O x ), are known to be triggers for fatigue failure of Nitinol medical devices. These mechanically brittle inclusions are introduced during the melting process. As a result of hot and cold working in the production of Nitinol tubing inclusions are fractionalized due to the mechanical deformation imposed. While the role of inclusions regarding Nitinol fatigue performance has been studied extensively in the past, their effect on Nitinol corrosion behavior was investigated in only a limited number of studies. The focus of the present work was to understand the effect of inclusion size and distribution on the corrosion behavior of medical-device grade Nitinol tubing made from three different ingot sources during different manufacturing stages: (i) for the initial stage (hollow: round bar with centric hole), (ii) after hot drawing, and (iii) after the final drawing step (final tubing dimensions: outer diameter 0.3 mm, wall thickness 0.1 mm). For one ingot source, two different material qualities were investigated. Potentiodynamic polarization tests were performed for electropolished samples of the above-mentioned stages. Results indicate that inclusion size rather than inclusion quantity affects the susceptibility of electropolished Nitinol to pitting corrosion.

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Acknowledgments

Andreas Birr and Jochen Ulmer from G. Rau GmbH & Co. KG, Pforzheim, Germany, are gratefully acknowledged for provision of samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ADMEDES Schuessler GmbH, Pforzheim, Germany

    Markus Wohlschlögel, Rainer Steegmüller & Andreas Schüßler

Authors
  1. Markus Wohlschlögel
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  2. Rainer Steegmüller
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  3. Andreas Schüßler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Markus Wohlschlögel.

Additional information

This article is an invited paper selected from presentations at the International Conference on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies 2013, held May 20-24, 2013, in Prague, Czech Republic, and has been expanded from the original presentation.

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Wohlschlögel, M., Steegmüller, R. & Schüßler, A. Effect of Inclusion Size and Distribution on the Corrosion Behavior of Medical-Device Grade Nitinol Tubing. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 23, 2635–2640 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-014-0996-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-014-0996-6

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