Shape memory alloy heat engines and energy harvesting systems

Patent · 30 September 2014

OSTI ID:1159948

Browne, Alan L; Johnson, Nancy L; Shaw, John Andrew; Churchill, Christopher Burton; Keefe, Andrew C; McKnight, Geoffrey P; Alexander, Paul W; Herrera, Guillermo A; Yates, James Ryan; Brown, Jeffrey W

A heat engine includes a first rotatable pulley and a second rotatable pulley spaced from the first rotatable pulley. A shape memory alloy (SMA) element is disposed about respective portions of the pulleys at an SMA pulley ratio. The SMA element includes a first wire, a second wire, and a matrix joining the first wire and the second wire. The first wire and the second wire are in contact with the pulleys, but the matrix is not in contact with the pulleys. A timing cable is disposed about respective portions of the pulleys at a timing pulley ratio, which is different than the SMA pulley ratio. The SMA element converts a thermal energy gradient between the hot region and the cold region into mechanical energy.

• Research Organization: GM Global Technology Operations LLC, Detroit, MI (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AR0000040
• Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (Detroit, MI); Dynalloy, Inc (Tustin, CA); The Regents of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)
• Patent Number(s): 8,844,281
• Application Number: 13/340,964
• OSTI ID: 1159948
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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