ABSTRACT
Aerospace applications demand high-temperature sustaining, lightweight materials that can maintain a desirable range of hardness, tensile strength, and resistance to creep, rupture, oxidation, erosion, and phase changes from 300°C to 1200°C under static/cyclic loads in reduced pressure. High martensitic temperatures along with acceptable recoverable transformation strain levels, long-term stability, resistance to plastic deformation and creep, and adequate environmental resistance are the qualifying criteria for high-temperature shape memory materials. Alloys are molten combinations of two or more metals with enhanced properties in terms of hardness, luster, malleability, fusibility, and ductility, with better electrical and thermal conductivity. Alloys that exhibit excellent mechanical and thermal/electrical properties, improved resistance to thermal creep deformation, and low vulnerability to corrosion and oxidation are termed high-performance alloys or superalloys. High-temperature shape memory polymers have a wide range of applications, such as deployable space structures, shape-morphing structures, smart jet propulsion systems, and high-temperature sensors and actuators.
