Abstract
The material properties of stents change with that of deformation due to work hardening. The whole deformation procedure of balloon expandable stent is a typical nonlinear process. Therefore, simplified procedures were applied in designing and optimizing stents with finite element method, typically omitting the process of stent crimping. In fact, plastic deformation and work hardening may occur during crimping, which may result in changes of material properties and affect the performance of stents. In this paper a complete deformation procedure of two typical stents was simulated using finite element method. Their mechanical performances were evaluated and compared with those simulations using a simplified procedure (omitting the process of stent crimping). It was found that the work hardening caused by crimping has a significant influence on the stress distribution, recoil rate and the maximum expandable diameter of stent.
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