Tension and fatigue behavior of silver-cored composite multi-strand cables used as implantable cables and electrodes

The mechanical behavior of a variety of cable architectures comprised of silver-cored wires was evaluated in uniaxial tension, and in cyclic strain-controlled fatigue with the use of a flex tester operated to provide fully reversed bending fatigue. The magnitude of cyclic strains imparted to each cable tested was controlled via the use of different diameter mandrels. Smaller diameter mandrels produced higher values of cyclic strain and lower fatigue life. Multiple samples were tested and analyzed via scanning electron microscopy. The fatigue results were analyzed via a Coffin–Manson–Basquin approach and compared to fatigue data obtained on 316LVM cables where testing was conducted in an identical manner. The effects of changes in wire diameter, cable architecture, and wire composition (i.e. silver-cored vs. 316LVM) are discussed.