Latent heat storage of Nickel Titanium shape memory alloys and its application to solid-state heat storage device

Abstract

Nickel Titanium shape memory alloy was proposed for heat storage material. When the shape memory alloy is in contact with a heat source, the heat flow from the heat source to the alloy was enhanced by the latent heat associated with the reverse martensitic transformation of shape memory alloy, and vice versa. This study performed both theoretical and computational analyses. First, the enthalpy curve in the temperature range of martensitic transformation was determined from the DSC curves obtained in experiment, which can describe the emission/absorption of latent heat during the martensitic transformation as the function of temperature. Next, a metal matrix composite of NiTi shape memory wires embedded in aluminum block was designed and the heat transfer with a heat source was observed by three-dimension finite element heat conduction analysis with ANSYS. We focused on the effects of the configuration of SMA wires and the heat resistance between the wire and aluminum matrix on the performance of the heat storage.