摘要 |
A highly flexible cable (100) includes two, preferably three or more strands or nickel-titanium alloy wires (102, 104, 106) which are twined to form a wire rope (108). The nickel-titanium alloy wire rope (108) is drawn through successive dies (110) to reduce its diameter until the outer surface of the cable (100) is substantially smooth, the overall cross section of the cable (100) is circular, and the overall diameter of the wire rope (108) is reduced by 20-50 %. The cable (100) is then annealed to remove the effects of cold working. The resulting cable has been found to have an improved flexibility (i.e., a lower modulus of elasticity) relative to single strand nickel-titanium wires (102, 104, 106) of the same diameter. |