Nitinol molds, also called "Mandrels", are used to set the shape of Nitinol during thermal treatment.
The molds are usually manufactured by milling, and the materials are stainless steels or copper, and sometimes brass. Copper has a significant advantage in heat conduction during thermal treatment, and for molds that "wrap" the entire Nitinol to set the shape, heat conduction must be managed to achieve precision in thermal treatment.
Our company has a CNC machine specially adapted for creating Nitinol molds. Since our furnace does not perform thermal treatment in a protective atmosphere, the molds we manufacture resemble casting molds in order to optimize the surface and prevent oxygen transfer to the Nitinol.
