Abstract
Efficient Joule heating and cooling are necessary for the repetition use of the shape recovery force of shape-memory alloy (SMA) fiber reinforced smart composite materials. Then, the main factor on Joule heating and the cooling speed in the SMA single fiber and the SMA fiber reinforced smart composite materials was experimentally evaluated in this research. The effect of an environmental temperature, the forced convection, and the free convection was evaluated as the main factor in the SMA single fiber, and the structural condition of the matrix was evaluated in the composite material. The significant point in the temperature characteristic of the SMA electrical resistance was used as a marker of heating and the cooling progress. As a result, the cooling speed confirmed the decrease though joule heating speed rose by the rise of the operation environment temperature. Moreover, Joule heating and the cooling characteristic change greatly in the SMA single fiber depending on the air cooling condition. In the composite material, the result of the large change depending on the heat transmission characteristic and the structural condition of the matrix material was obtained.
