skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Uniaxial, Pure Bending, and Column Buckling Experiments on Superelastic NiTi Rods and Tubes

Journal Article · · International Journal of Solids and Structures
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States). Dept. of Aerospace Engineering
  2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  3. Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

Many existing shape memory alloy (SMA) devices consist of slender beams and frames. To better understand SMA beam behavior, we experimentally examined the isothermal, room temperature response of superelastic NiTi rods and tubes, of similar outer diameters, subjected to four different modes of loading. Pure tension, pure compression, and pure bending experiments were first performed to establish and compare the baseline uniaxial and bending behaviors of rods and tubes. Column buckling experiments were then performed on rod and tube columns of several slenderness ratios to investigate their mechanical responses, phase transformation kinetics under combined uniaxial and bending deformation, and the interaction between material and structural instabilities. In all experiments, stereo digital image correlation measured local displacement fields in order to capture phenomena such as strain localization and propagating phase boundaries. Superelastic mechanical behavior and the nature of stress-induced phase transformation were found to be strongly affected by specimen geometry and the deformation mode. Under uniaxial tension, both the rod and tube had well-defined loading and unloading plateaus in their superelastic responses, during which stress-induced phase transformation propagated along the length of the specimen in the form of a high/low strain front. Due to the dependence of strain localization on kinematic compatibility, the high/low strain front morphologies differed between the rod and tube: for the rod, the high/low strain front consisted of a diffuse “neck”, while the high/low strain front in the tube consisted of distinct, criss-crossing “fingers.” During uniaxial compression, both cross-sectional forms exhibited higher transformation stresses and smaller transformation strains than uniaxial tension, highlighting the now well-known tension-compression asymmetry of SMAs. Additionally, phase transformation localization and propagation were absent under compressive loading. During pure bending, the moment-curvature response of both forms exhibited plateaus and strain localization during forward and reverse transformations. Rod specimens developed localized, high-curvature regions that propagated along the specimen axis and caused shear strain near the high/low curvature interface; whereas, the tube specimens exhibited finger/wedge-like high strain regions over the tensile side of the tube which caused nonlinear strain profiles through the thickness of the specimen that did not propagate. Here, it was therefore found that classical beam theory assumptions did not hold in the presence of phase transformation localization (although, the assumptions did hold on average for the tube). During column buckling, the structures were loaded into the post-buckling regime yet recovered nearly-straight forms upon unloading. Strain localization was observed only for high aspect ratio (slender) tubes, but the mechanical responses were similar to that of rods of the same slenderness ratio. Also, an interesting “unbuckling” phenomenon was discovered in certain low aspect ratio (stout) columns, where late post-buckling straightening was observed despite continuous monotonic loading. Thus, these behaviors are some of the challenging phenomena which must be captured when developing SMA constitutive models and executing structural simulations.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOD; US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1432476
Report Number(s):
SAND-2018-3151J; 661754
Journal Information:
International Journal of Solids and Structures, Vol. 146; ISSN 0020-7683
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 19 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (42)

Tensile instability of initially spherical balloons journal January 1971
Localization in NiTi tubes under bending journal March 2014
Bending of Superelastic Wires, Part I: Experimental Aspects journal June 1995
Superelastic tension and bending characteristics of shape memory alloys journal July 2000
Thermodynamics of Shape Memory Alloy Wire: Modeling, Experiments, and Application journal May 2006
Bifurcation to pear-shaped equilibria of pressurized spherical membranes journal January 1991
On equilibrium domains in superelastic NiTi tubes — helix versus cylinder journal May 2012
An overview of nitinol medical applications journal December 1999
Equilibrium of bars journal November 1975
The role of texture in tension–compression asymmetry in polycrystalline NiTi journal March 1999
Tension/torsion tests of pseudoelastic, polycrystalline NiTi shape memory alloys under temperature control journal May 2008
Underlying material response for Lüders-like instabilities journal August 2013
Post-bifurcation of perfect and imperfect spherical elastic membranes journal January 1980
Wrinkling Behavior of Highly Stretched Rectangular Elastic Films via Parametric Global Bifurcation journal April 2013
Non-medical applications of shape memory alloys journal December 1999
Elliptic integral solution of the extensible elastica with a variable length under a concentrated force journal August 2011
An Experimental Setup for Measuring Unstable Thermo-Mechanical Behavior of Shape Memory Alloy Wire journal February 2002
Rate and thermal sensitivities of unstable transformation behavior in a shape memory alloy journal April 2004
Buckling and recovery of NiTi tubes under axial compression journal February 2016
Martensite Strain Memory in the Shape Memory Alloy Nickel-Titanium Under Mechanical Cycling journal December 2010
The initiation and propagation of a localized instability in an inflated elastic tube journal January 1991
The initiation and growth of macroscopic martensite band in nano-grained NiTi microtube under tension journal November 2002
Lateral-torsional buckling of beams and the Southwell plot journal December 2002
Stretch-induced wrinkling of polyethylene thin sheets: Experiments and modeling journal May 2014
In-plane compressive response and crushing of honeycomb journal October 1994
In-plane crushing of a polycarbonate honeycomb journal January 1998
Buckling and postbuckling characteristics of the superelastic SMA columns journal December 2001
Tension, compression, and bending of superelastic shape memory alloy tubes journal February 2014
Tips and Tricks for Characterizing Shape Memory Wire Part 5: Full-Field Strain Measurement by Digital Image Correlation journal May 2011
Pseudoelastic behaviour of shape memory alloy beams under pure bending: experiments and modelling journal April 2002
Finite-Element Simulation of the Anti-Buckling-Effect of a Shape Memory Alloy Bar journal July 2011
Some Thoughts on the Southwell Plot journal December 1967
Inelastic Column Theory journal May 1947
Thermomechanical aspects of NiTi journal August 1995
On the nucleation and propagation of phase transformation fronts in a NiTi alloy journal February 1997
Initiation and propagation of localized deformation in elasto-plastic strips under uniaxial tension journal December 1997
On the applicability of the Southwell plot to plastic buckling journal June 1989
The Southwell Method for Predicting Plastic Buckling Loads for Elbows journal February 1983
Applications of shape memory alloys in civil structures journal July 2006
Phase transformation in superelastic NiTi polycrystalline micro-tubes under tension and torsion––from localization to homogeneous deformation journal June 2002
Unbuckling of superelastic shape memory alloy columns journal January 2018
Experimental study on rate dependence of macroscopic domain and stress hysteresis in NiTi shape memory alloy strips journal December 2010

Cited By (1)


Similar Records

Axial-torsion behavior of superelastic tubes: Part I, proportional isothermal experiments
Journal Article · Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · International Journal of Solids and Structures · OSTI ID:1432476

Buckling of T beams under bending
Conference · Sun Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 1995 · OSTI ID:1432476

TEST SYSTEM FOR EVALUATING SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL BENDING STIFFNESS AND VIBRATION INTEGRITY
Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2013 · OSTI ID:1432476