In addition to these commonly asked questions, please see our Technical Characteristics of Flexinol® Wires located on the Dynalloy web page at http://www.dynalloy.com/TechSheets.html. For further information please contact Dynalloy.

How do I place an order?

Orders may be placed via: email to flexinol@dynalloy.com , over the phone 1(714) 436-1206 or fax to 1 (714) 436-0511.

Payment Methods:
• Credit Cards - we accept Mastercard, Visa, Discover and American Express - please include card number and expiration date as well as the name of the card holder and billing address. Please fax or call with this information. We do not recommend sending credit card numbers in an e-mail.
• Wire Transfer- There is a $35.00 bank fee for wire transfers.
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Where is Flexinol® useful?

Flexinol® actuator wire is useful in all types of products that require a linear motion. While the biggest gains in reducing cost and power consumption are found in applications where the total work required is than 1 inch*lb (~ 0.1 N*m), the incredibly low volume and mass along with it’s unique thermal response characteristics makes it useful almost everywhere.
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Flexinol® is quite frequently used in devices that are rated for – 40°C and below. The maximum operating temperature however is limited. This is due to the temperature hysteresis between the heating and cooling cycles. The return (cooling) transition temperature is approximately 25-30 °C below the contracting (heating) transition temperature. For example, a 90 °C material will not return to its oiginal length until around 60 °C.  Since the transition temperatures are dependent on stress, the actual operating limits are device specific and it is possible to reach an operating ambient above 80°C with state of the art designs. In addition, there are new alloys under development for higher ambient temperature operations up to 300 °C. Please contact your sales representative for more information.
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Flexinol® has been used in a variety of different devices in many different industries. Some examples include:

  • Animated Toys
  • PC Disk Ejectors
  • Automotive Seating Comfort Valves
  • Automotive Trunk Releases
  • Dispensing Latches
  • FDA Approved Medical Devices
  • Mars Rover
  • Temperature Activated Pressure Release Valves
  • Micro Relays
  • Electrical Circuit Breakers
  • HVAC Diffusers
  • Camera Shutters
  • Butterfly Wing Actuators
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    Contact Dynalloy! Dynalloy’s SMA Actuator Design Engineers team is dedicated to saving customers time and money by drastically reducing expensive R&D cycles.
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    After contracting Flexinol® or removing the heat, a bias force will need to be applied in order to stretch the wire back out. The wire will elongate some on its own but not a full 4 percent. This bias force is typically around 7-10 KSI (KSI=thousand pounds per square inch).
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    The response time of Flexinol® actuators is dependent on how quickly you can heat and cool the material. Decreasing the heating time can be achieved by increasing the power input to achieve the same amount of energy in Joules. Use caution, however, not to overheat the wire with your new power setting. In order to cool the wire faster, using multiple strands of smaller diameter increases the surface area to mass ratio, which decreases the cooling time. Also, coatings or other heat sinks can be used. Refer to Dynalloy’s Technical Characteristics of Flexinol® for additional tips and techniques.
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    The most common technique used in volume manufacturing is terminating the wire and providing electrical contact is with a crimp, typically brass. Soldering presents a number of issues including harsh chemical fluxes and temperature restrictions for the material. Welding is also an option, and ongoing research is being conducted to create a viable commercial process.
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    Although for most materials, the modulus of elasticity is a constant, this is not the case concerning SMA's. For Flexinol®, it can vary greatly with composition, elongation, training, and temperature. For nitinol in the low temperature phase, it varies around 28-40 GPa and in the high temperature phase, it is around 83 GPa.

     


    FLEXINOL® and Muscle Wire® are Registered Trademarks of Dynalloy, Inc. All Rights Reserved.