Caracterização eletromecânica de minimolas superelásticas de nitinol em regime de efeito memória de forma sob carga constante.

Abstract

The Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) are a class of metallic materials that have the ability to recover pseudo plastic deformation introduced by the application of mechanical load, and return to original shape by heating. The main interest in the SMA actuators used in the form of coil springs lies in the large displacement provided by the shape memory effect (SME) phenomenon, which allows performing mechanical work when the component is subjected to varying conditions of temperatures and mechanical loads. In the case of SMA elements in a state of superelasticity (SE) at room temperature, when mechanical load is applied and maintained on the material, the deformation caused by the formation of stress induced martensite can be reversed by heating. In this case, we have a SME in a SMA element originally superelastic. In this context, the objective of this work is to realize the electromechanical characterization of a superelastic mini coil spring of Ni-Ti SMA (Nitinol), when subjected to a constant mechanical loading, evaluating the influence of the electric current rate, the influence of mechanical load on the phase transformation temperatures, and determining the displacement behavior to the variation of electrical resistance. For this, an experimental platform was developed to submit the mini spring under constant load (dead weight) to electric current signals varying with time. It was found that for all mechanical loads and electrical current levels, the results for the slower rate of change electrical current (6 mA/s) showed a better response in displacement and the variation in the electrical resistance when compared to faster rate (12 mA/s), although the faster rate present a narrower hysteretic behavior (electrical resistance vs displacement). There was also verified an increase in phase transformation temperatures with increased mechanical load, as expected by the Clausius-Clayperon law for SMA. Finally, a practically linear relationship was found between the change in displacement with the variation in electrical resistance, during heating and cooling.