J. Draper, D. R. Hazime, Safe Technology Limited, Sheffield, United Kingdom
A fatigue test programme produced baseline fatigue data and cyclic stress-strain data for Nitinol wire specimens and for dog-bone specimens from laser-cut tube. A Nitinol model of Nitinol stress-strain behaviour in the Abaqus FEA software was used to analyse two components that represented the design details of Nitinol stents. The data was used to develop a strain-based computer method for the fatigue design of Nitinol stents. The development of the design methodology is described.
Key words: fatigue analysis, durability, nitinol, Abaqus, fe-safe™
