A comparison of the effectiveness of two shape memory alloy-based actuators

Conference · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:395178

Ditman, J B ^[1]; Bergman, L A ^[2]

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1. General Motors Corp., Ypsilanti, MI (United States). General Motors Powertrain Group
2. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States). Dept. of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering

Recently a large body of research has been devoted to developing applications that exploit the unique properties of shape memory alloys. Shape memory alloys possess the ability to remember their initial configuration. After deformation, these materials return to their initial shape when heated through a transformation region. In addition, the material properties of shape memory alloys change throughout the phase transformation. It is these unique characteristics that make shape memory alloys potentially valuable components in smart material systems. This paper presents the results of numerical studies of the capabilities of two shape memory alloy-based actuators. The first actuator examined utilizes an SMA wire to provide the contractive force and a bias spring to provide the restoration force. The second actuator uses two SMA wires in an agonist-antagonist pair to provide the contractive and restorative forces. The effectiveness of these two actuators is highly dependent on their physical parameters. It is the objective of this paper to examine, through a series of design case studies, the effect of wire diameter, initial martensitic fraction, ambient temperature and maximum temperature on both the displacement and time response of the actuators. The effectiveness of the two actuators will be compared based on the results of the case studies. The results of the case studies will also prove valuable in developing applications for shape memory alloy-based actuator systems.

• OSTI ID: 395178
• Report Number(s): CONF-940691--; ISBN 1-56676-171-9
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
ACTUATORS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CRYSTAL-PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
DATA
MATERIALS
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
RESPONSE FUNCTIONS
SHAPE MEMORY EFFECT
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
USES