Journal
JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT MATERIAL SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES
Volume 21, Issue 1, Pages 19-40Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/1045389X09352814
Keywords
actuator; shape memory alloy; active cooling; pre-stress; response time
Categories
Funding
- office of Naval Research (ONR) [N000140810654]
- Institute of Critical research and Applied Science (ICTAS) at Virginia Tech
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Application of shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators is limited to low frequencies due to slow cooling time especially in the embedded conditions where heat transfer rate is the controlling factor. In this study, we investigate various active cooling techniques and effect of pre-stress to improve the response time of two commercially available SMAs: Flexinol from Dynalloy Inc. and Biometal fiber from Toki Corporation. Flexinol and Biometal fiber of equal length and diameter were found to exhibit different actuation behavior under pre-stress. Time domain force response of SMA actuators was found to be dependent upon the applied prestress, heating rate, and amplitude of applied electrical stimulus. Compared to Biometal fibers, time domain response of Flexinol was found to decrease significantly with increasing pre-stress indicating the difference in transformation behavior. Fluid flow and heat sinking were found to be suitable methods for improving the response time by reducing the cooling cycle from 1.6 s to 0.30-0.45 s. This is a significant improvement in the actuation capability of SMAs.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available