Laser welding of NiTi wires

The special properties of nickel–titanium shape memory alloys are currently used in micro-engineering and medical technology. In order to integrate NiTi components into existing parts and modules, they often need to be joined to other materials. For this reason, the present contribution deals with the laser welding of thin pseudoelastic NiTi wires (100 μm) with an Nd:YAG laser. Based on extensive parameter studies, faultless joints were produced. This study deals with the structural changes occurring in the fusion and heat-affected zones, the performance of the joints in static tensile tests and their functional fatigue. It can be shown that NiTi/NiTi joints reach about 75% of the ultimate tensile strength of pure NiTi wires. For welding NiTi to steel, no interlayer was used. The dissimilar NiTi/steel joints provide a bonding strength in the fusion and heat-affected zones higher than the plateau stress level. NiTi/steel joints of thin wires, as a new aspect, enable the possibility to benefit from the pseudoelastic properties of the NiTi component.