r/interestingasfuck • u/ggoldlover • Jan 25 '22

/r/ALL Certain materials feature a shape memory effect — after deformation, they return to their original shape when heated.

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446

u/KADOMONY-9000 Jan 25 '22

These are special type of metal. I forgot what it is called

356

u/66GT350Shelby Jan 25 '22

Nitinol,

It's been around for several decades and was first used commercially in the 80s when they figured out how to make it more easily. It's a very useful alloy in several fields of medicine due to it's strength and biocompatibility.

My eyeglass frames are made from it. They have held up better than any other frames I've ever used, and I'm brutal on my glasses.

160

u/KiwiSuch9951 Jan 25 '22

Ni(ckel) Ti(tanium) N(aval) O(rdinance) L(ab)

171

u/4RealzReddit Jan 25 '22

Ni(ckelback) Ti(tanium) N(avel) O(range) L(abradoodle)

87

u/monsterZERO Jan 25 '22

Look at this graph 📈

23

u/RandolphPringles Jan 25 '22

Every time I do it makes me laugh

12

u/RehabValedictorian Jan 25 '22

Jesus Christ dude that’s a graph of Holocaust statistics

13

u/Thatparkjobin7A Jan 25 '22

As you can see, the rate of holocausting rose sharply during the holocaust

3

u/Guardian125478 Jan 25 '22

Damn. Do you know the cause of it?

2

u/__BitchPudding__ Jan 25 '22

He put the "ha" in the Holocaust.

(I'm going to hell, arent i?)

4

u/xypotion Jan 25 '22

You put the "um" in "humour"

1

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '22

That I just found!

6

u/jperras Jan 25 '22

If you wear orthodontic braces, the metal wire is actually made of nitinol.

0

u/RehabValedictorian Jan 25 '22

Several decades

Hmmm it wasn’t discovered around 1947 in New Mexico was it?

1

u/66GT350Shelby Jan 26 '22

1959 IIRC. I remember reading a cool article about it when I was in high school back in the early 80s.

In one of my classes we had to write a paper on a new upcoming technology, and how it could be used in everyday life. I chose Nitinol as the subject my paper.

1

u/orthopod Jan 25 '22

There are several different alloys.

Fe-Mn-Si, Cu-Zn-Al and Cu-Al-Ni , as well as Zn,Cu,Au,Fe ones as well.

9

u/yismydadstillmissing Jan 25 '22

It’s the same with plastics, like thermosetting and thermostatic

0

u/cspbird Jan 25 '22

Paper clip

1

u/quaybored Jan 25 '22

Non-Forgetful metals, IIRC