The Nitinol Engine

Hier geht es zur deutschen Version: Der Nitinol-Motor

Pre-cut cardboard kit for a fully functional heat engine, powered by hot water and a wire ring made of nitinol

Fascinating feature

The heart of this very unusual heat engine is a ring of hair-thin nitinol wire (0.3 mm). A little warm water is all it needs, and then the Nitinol motor starts to turn and pound tirelessly.
Nitinol, an alloy of nickel and titanium, has highly unusual properties: When warm, it is stiff and elastic like spring steel, but below a certain temperature it becomes pliable like soft iron. You can repeat this as often as you like, Nitinol always returns to its old shape when heated, suddenly and with astonishing force. The snap temperature of our nitinol wire ring is 45°.

This is how it works

In the air, the wire is soft; where it is immersed in the 50° warm water, it suddenly becomes stiff and straight. But because the grooved wheel forces it into a curve, it has to move upwards. In doing so, it pulls a new piece of wire behind it into the warm water, whereupon the whole thing starts all over again. The basic principle, invented by Frederic Wang in 1985, is effective even at low temperature differences and has great future potential for alternative energy production.

Even more power? No problem!

For all those who want to get even more out of their Nitinol Engine, our Booster set with second nitinol wire ring and additional set of grooved wheels offers the option of simply doubling the tractive power of the drive.

Another exciting item available in our shop is a Ferris wheel that can be powered by the Nitinol Engine.

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