Journal of Theoretical
and Applied Mechanics

48, 4, pp. 1043-1056, Warsaw 2010

Two-way rotary shape memory alloy thin strip actuator

Hisaaki Tobushi, Elżbieta A. Pieczyska, Wojciech K. Nowacki, Kousuke Date, Kouji Miyamoto
In order to develop a two-way rotary shape memory alloy thin strip actuator, the torsional deformation and fatigue properties of a TiNi SMA thin strip were investigated. The results obtained are summarized as follows. (1) In the SMA thin strip subjected to torsion, the MT appears along the edge of the strip due to elongation of the edge of the strip and grows to the central part. (2) The number of cycles to failure decreases with an increase in the maximum angle of twist in torsion fatigue. The fatigue life in pulsating torsion is longer than that in alternating torsion by five times. The fatigue limit exists in a certain value of dissipated work of the strip in each cycle. (3) Based on the two-way motion of a lifting actuator model driven by two kinds of SMA thin strip, it is confirmed that the two-way rotary actuator with a small and simple mechanism can be developed by using the SMA thin strips.
Keywords: shape memory alloy; thin strip; torsion; cyclic deformation; fatigue; rotary actuator; two-way motion