Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : June 06, 2021 - June 08, 2021
Shape memory alloys (SMAs), well-known as the force source in nonexplosive actuators, generate force through temperature-based phase transitions. The force amount is related to the volume and mass of the SMA, and a high SMA mass system enables a high-power density actuator; however, it has difficulties in generation force estimation because of their complex thermo-mechanical coupling characteristics. This paper evaluates the thermal distribution effect on thermo-mechanical coupling analysis in shape memory alloy tubes aiming to improve the force-generation profile of the SMA actuator, which consists of an SMA tube, a mechanical restraint, and a heater. Some experiments are performed to obtain the thermal distributions during the heating. The detailed thermal-mathematical model is constructed to emulate the experimental results and evaluate the detailed heating mechanism. With the combination of our previous studies and the generated thermal mathematical model, we also discuss the thermal distribution effects on the force generation profile.
