Z. (. Zhang, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Nitinol stents are widely used in superficial femoral artery (SFA) under which large deformations are experienced. The superelasticity property of Nitinol is harnessed to overcome strains caused by the deformations. The deformations are complicated during movement, such as walking and stair climbing. This complicity makes design of durable stents challenging. In this article, the authors gave an example to show how FEA expedited the design process. The FEA procedures, including Nitinol material characterizations, heat treatment for shape forming, FEA model calibration, loading conditions, and fatigue analysis, were discussed. The results showed that rigorous FEA analysis improved efficiency of design process.
