Shape Memory Alloy

An alloy that, if deformed, will return to its shape prior to the deformation when subjected to a temperature change.

Metal materials, such as alloys of gold and cadmium or titanium and nickel, possess hyperelasticity, meaning that after deformation they will return to their shape prior to deformation when heated above a certain temperature.

This shape memory effect was discovered in 1951 at Columbia University in the USA.