Plasma Arc Melting (PAM) and Corrosion Resistance of Pure NiTi Shape Memory Alloys

Plasma arc melting (PAM) as a suitable non-contaminating melting route for manufacturing high-quality NiTi alloy was successfully examined. The corrosion resistance of PAM Nitinol was evaluated by both potentiodynamic and potentiostatic tests and compared with lower purity NiTi produced by vacuum induction melting (VIM). For the electro-polished surfaces, excellent corrosion resistance of NiTi comparable with the Ti alloys was found with no pitting up to 800 mV versus saturated calomel electrode in simulated body fluid at 37 °C. Potentiostatic results of PAM Nitinol indicate slightly better corrosion resistance than the lower quality VIM alloy.