In the present study, equiatomic porous TiNi shape-memory alloys have been successfully prepared by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) using elemental titanium and nickel powders. The porous TiNi alloys thus obtained have an open porous structure with about 64 vol.% porosity, and the pore size is about 1.8 mm. The effect of preheating temperature on the microstructure have been investigated. It is found that the pore size increases with increasing preheating temperature. Moreover, the preheating temperature was shown to have a significant effect on the microstructrue of the SHS-synthesized porous TiNi shape memory alloys.