Nitinol
The basics
Nitinol is an alloy of nickel and titanium, first discovered by the Naval Ordinance Laboratory in 1959 for use in missile nose cones. The NOL soon discovered that the alloy, originally created for heat, fatigue, and impact resistance, was capable of bending back to a previous shape when heated. This shape memory effect, and Nitinol's relative ease of manufacturing and use compared to other shape-memory alloys, gave Nitinol several unique uses. The name, Nitinol, comes from the elements Nickel (Ni) and Titanium (Ti), as well as the Naval Ordinance Laboratory (NOL), for NiTiNOL or Nitinol.