Electro-mechanical behavior of a shape memory alloy actuator

Abstract

This paper presents experimental study and numerical simulation of the electro-thermo-mechanical behavior of a commercially available Flexinol shape memory alloy (SMA) wire [1]. Recently, a novel driver device has been presented [2], which simultaneously controls electric power and measures resistance of an SMA wire actuator. This application of a single wire as both actuator and sensor will fully exploit the multifunctional nature of SMA materials and minimize system complexity by avoiding extra sensors. Though the subject is not new [3-6], comprehensive resistance data under controlled conditions for time-resolved and hysteresis-based experiments is not readily available from the literature. A simple experimental setup consisting of a Flexinol wire mounted in series with the tip of a compliant cantilever beam is used to systematically study the SMA behavior. A Labview-based data acquisition system measures actuator displacement and SMA wire stress and resistance and controls the power passed through the SMA actuator wire. The experimental setup is carefully insulated from ambient conditions, as the thermal response of a 50-micron diameter Flexinol wire is extremely sensitive to temperature fluctuation due to convective heat transfer. Actuator performance is reported for a range of actuation frequencies and input power levels. The effect of varying actuator pre-stress is reported as well. All of the experimental data is compared with simulated behavior that is derived from a numerical model for SMA material [7-10].