John_S_in_Penna Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 Has anyone ever heard of nitinol? This other-worldly metal has some astounding properties. When badly bent out of shape, it will instantly spring back to its original shape when heated! See the brief video below, where warm water is all that's required to restore it. For now, I believe it has been used only for small items. Videos show its use in springs and paper clips. But imagine a dented fender, made of nitinol, spring back into its proper shape in a few seconds. The possibilities are vast. Thanks to whoever discovered it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC38dls Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 John, what do you think a fender like this would cost being made out of that. I would need a very big bucket of hot water to fit it. Maybe I could sneak in into the bath tub without my wife knowing 😳 dave s 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 So that's how Christine did it... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 Don't leave the car in direct sunlight in the middle of the summer, or you'll find a pile of flat sheets, or maybe a coil... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted August 18, 2022 Author Share Posted August 18, 2022 21 minutes ago, SC38dls said: John, what do you think a fender like this would cost being made out of that? I don't know much about nitinol's production, but I understand it's currently expensive. Making a fender is a perfect application, but maybe not in the realm of current possibilities. Heat restores it instantly to its previous shape. Merely a heat gun should do the job in fixing the fender-- and it would likely take under a minute. Same with your grille! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary_Ash Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 There are many practical applications of Nitinol-related metals. Here's a link to more than you ever wanted to know from a NASA guy: https://www.utoledo.edu/engineering/mechanical-industrial-manufacturing-engineering/pdfs/Othmane Benafan seminar slides.pdf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank DuVal Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 I had a sample of Nitinol wire from a DuPont presentation back in high school. As with most things (like other memory), it got lost over the years. Fun stuff at the time. Really did straighten back when heated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted August 18, 2022 Author Share Posted August 18, 2022 Just picture yourself passing a heat gun over your damaged car, and the grille popping back into place perfectly, in just a few seconds! 3 hours ago, SC38dls said: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC38dls Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 It took me two months with the help of about 50 forum members telling me how to do it. Thanks to them it’s back in the road. Sure wish I had the Nitinol metal then! dave s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 I saw the video and immediately thought "This guy will have a British accent". Yep, I shut it off, didn't care to listen. What is it with this? I watch news, commentary, You Tube, and it's all the same foreign people. Even opinions on how the US government should run. Maybe I am biased, like my tires, but I just tune them out. It's as annoying as the "Where's the beef" guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted August 18, 2022 Author Share Posted August 18, 2022 22 minutes ago, 60FlatTop said: ...it's all the same foreign people. Inventions can come from any advanced civilization. Here's a half-minute video showing a badly distorted spring instantaneously restored: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 3 hours ago, John_S_in_Penna said: Just picture yourself passing a heat gun over your damaged car, and the grille popping back into place perfectly, in just a few seconds! Picture yourself writing the check for the car with that grill. 50% nickle, 50& titanium and a nightmare to fabricate.........Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted August 18, 2022 Author Share Posted August 18, 2022 (edited) When materials and processes become well established-- if they do--costs come away down. To illustrate, aluminum was a very valuable metal in the 1800's, but now it's so common that they fabricate car trailers from aluminum. This topic is inspiration for great future possibilities! Edited August 18, 2022 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 (edited) 51 minutes ago, John_S_in_Penna said: When materials and processes become well established-- if they do--costs come away down. This topic is inspiration for great future possibilities! Agree, but at some point pragmatism will/must win out. Besides, the Body Shop (BS) lobby will assure that self repairing cars never see the light of day. I did, however, read that the material was used in one maker's car in some sort of trunk opener assist for a short time. It's also VERY metal fatigue resistant and is used as cardiac stents, but then you dare not use a hair dryer 😁................Bob Edited August 18, 2022 by Bhigdog (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary_Ash Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 Curt Saurer, the guy who invented the rubber engine vibration isolators while working at Firestone in the 1920s and 1930s, also got a patent for a rubber fender that would resist dings and dents. His patent describes having the lower part of the fender made from rubber with a canvas or wire stiffener. I don't think it ever went into production. Curt had more than 50 patents for rubber devices and other automobile parts. Eventually, we got those molded flexible plastic front and rear end pieces on our modern cars. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMicheletti Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 I worked in making Nitinol products. It is a B--ch to work with and establishing the recovery process is difficult. Among other things we made stents. It isnt cheap. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 The breadth of general knowledge here is both interesting and rewarding........Bob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne sheldon Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 It is probably the same stuff I saw about thirty-five years ago. We were doing cutting edge communications systems, including installing some of the first commercial satellite dishes (four meter/thirteen foot!) for the first commercial cable television satellite in orbit, before it was activated. We participated in the early ground receiving tests when it was first lit up. Those tests went on for about six months as transmissions were fine tuned before actual commercial broadcasts began! Among the many seminars we attended (and we taught sessions at some of them!), was a discussion of this miracle metal. Speculation at the time was that it would be used for future satellites to deploy solar panels. In theory, even in the cold of space, solar heat (about eighteen hours per day for a geosynchronous satellite?) would absorb enough heat to unfold the framework and deploy solar panels on Mylar. I wonder if they ever actually did that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 22 hours ago, John_S_in_Penna said: Inventions can come from any advanced civilization. Here's a half-minute video showing a badly distorted spring instantaneously restored: Not much of a spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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