Memory Elements

Components made of shape memory alloys may be used as thermal actuators in many fields of measurement and control technology. Parts made from these alloys "remember" and return to their original shape after deformation and subsequent heating.

Depending on the alloy and processing the transition temperatures of our memory elements are between -20 and +80 °C. One-way elements only remember a high temperature shape to which they return upon heating. Two-way elements, on the other hand, remember the high temperature shape upon heating and the low temperature shape upon cooling.

A two-way behavior can also be achieved by combining a one-way element with a biasing force (e.g. a spring). This arrangement is often more cost-effective than a true two-way memory element.

G.RAU supplies parts according to customers' specifications as compression, tension, bending or torsion elements, typically in the form of coil or cantilever springs as well as Belleville springs. The most frequently used shape memory material is Nitinol, a Nickel-Titanium alloy.