3D-printed NiTi space actuator

Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) are lightweight, reliable, durable, and adaptable, ideal for creating complex structures that endure extreme space conditions. Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) enables precise control, allowing different functional regions in a single NiTi part. Printing challenges, like porosity and nickel evaporation, are modified through laser parameters changes and powder composition. This a priori unwanted effect can be controlled by adjusting the printing parameters and using Ni-rich powder. Thus, it is possible to control the printed part composition and to define locally superelastic or shape memory behaviour allowing for free-shape monolithic bi-functional device, a new vision for space smart mechanisms.