Assessment of the Bonding Force between the Thin NiTi Wire and 3D Printed Polymeric Matrix

Smart materials interest is still growing around the world. One of the most frequently used smart material is a nickel-titanium alloy called Nitinol. Great popularity of this material is connected with its unique properties which allows to use it both as an actuator and sensor. Thanks to its properties, this material can also be successfully used in self-sensing applications. The use of NiTi alloys usually involves combining them with other materials. Nowadays, when 3D printing technology is widely used it can be used to produce the polymer based composites with thin NiTi wires placed inside. However, due to the application requirements of such structures the bonding force between the polymeric matrix and NiTi wire is very important. Paper presents the results of the research concerning on the bonding force assessment between the thin NiTi wire and various polymeric matrix made of thermoplastic materials like PLA, ABS and J260-PF. The bonding force has been assessed for the 3D prints with various infill and infill patterns. Moreover, the bonding force was measures for samples with and without cyanoacrylate bond between the NiTi wire and polymeric matrix. Obtained results show that, the bonding force was the highest in case of the J260-PF matrix. Forces measured in the samples with cyanoacrylate bond were higher than in the samples without bond in all analyzed cases.