Modelling of Shape Memory Alloys and Experimental Verification

Prestrained shape memory alloys change their length when heated above their transformation temperature. This effect can be used to generate high forces in a small workspace, which has particular advantages in actuator design. The optimization and control of the shape memory actuator requires a comprehensive simulation of the material behavior. However, many of the existing models are limited to specific load cases or offer rough approximations only. A material model for shape memory alloys from Seelecke [1] is examined in this paper. This model describes the behavior of a shape memory wire, which is heated by electric current. It is implemented in a simulation program to investigate the actuator output and to improve the performance. Finally, the parameters of the simulation are adapted to experimental results.     

Numerical Simulation of the Application of NiTi Alloys in Medical Technologies

Shape memory alloys are nowadays already established as a material which is able to solve exceptional tasks in practical applications. Particularly, its utilization in the field of medical technologies increases steadily. For example micro tools (staple, catheters) and implants (coronary stents) are made out of Nickel-Titanium well known as a basic shape memory alloy. Apart from the advantages like the avoidance of auxiliary components and joints in the system and to utilize the high volume specific work of shape memory alloys, NiTi alloys exhibit a good biocompatibility. This property is necessary with regard to either permanent or temporary implants. To optimize the use of NiTi alloys in the scope of medical technologies, the support of the development of applicable tools by numerical simulations is highly recommended. However the complex material behaviour containing a profoundly thermomechanical coupling poses indeed a big challenge to the material modeling and its implementation into a finite element code. Particularly, the material model proposed by Helm [1] proves to be a firm model containing the most common properties of shape memory alloys, as the pseudoelasticity, the shape memory effect and the two-way effect. In the present contribution the FE modelling of a medical staple used in foot surgery is presented by considering the model of Helm which was investigated by the authors to improve its performance in the finite element method [2]. The foot staple, produced by a group of members of the SFB 459 which is funded by the DFG, avails the shape memory effect to excite the desired clamping effect [3]. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Pseudoelasticity of Shape Memory Alloys - a 1D Material Model and Finite Element Implementation

This contribution is concerned with the formulation of a 1D-constitutive model accounting for the pseudoelastic behavior of shape memory alloys. The stress-strain-relationship is idealized by a hysteresis both in the compression as in the tension loading range. It is characterized by an upper loading path, which is to be ascribed to the transformation of the lattice to a martensitic structure. Unloading the material, a lower path is described, because of the reverse transformation into austenitic lattice. The constitutive model is based on a switching criterion which serves as a potential function for the evolution of the internal state variables. The model distinguishes between local and global variables to describe the hysteresis effects for the compression and tension range. A strain driven algorithm which captures the complete nonlinear material behavior is presented. The boundary value problem is solved for a truss element applying the finite element method. A consistent linearization of the nonlinear equations is derived. Simple examples will demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model. For future developments the usage of shape memory alloys within civil engineering structures is aimed. The advantage of the material is the very good damping behavior and the potential to overcome great strains. Both properties are distinguished to be of engineering interest. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Composite beams with shape memory alloy fibres

We are concerned with the bending problem of fibrous composite beams in which fibres are made of shape memory alloys. These are alloys that may undergo a stress‐induced martensitic phase transformation. The matrix is treated as an elastic medium, and perfect bonding between matrix and fibres is supposed. In our model, the beam is decomposed into layers and the hysteretic behaviour of the shape memory fibres is taken into account. The boundary value problem is formulated in the form of an evolution variational inequality which, after finite element discretization, can be solved incrementally as a sequence of linear complementarity problems. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Micro‐Mechanical Modelling of the Constitutive Behaviour of NiTi Shape Memory Alloys

The superelasticity and shape memory effect in NiTi alloys are examined on the basis of micromechanics within the energy minimization framework. We describe the behaviour of polycrystalline shape‐memory alloys via orientation‐distribution of the various martensite‐variants (domains) present in the material. Stress‐strain curves are presented and special attention is payed to the volume fraction of martensite for specific NiTi alloys (Nitinol) specimen under uniaxial tension. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Implementation of Thermomechanical Coupling for Shape Memory Alloys into the Finite Element Method

NiTi alloys open up new fields of application on the basis of their distinctive thermomechanical properties. Many options of practical application of shape memory alloys are imaginable. For example catheters or stents made of NiTi play an important role in medical technology. Thus the further development and optimisation of simulation tools for shape memory alloys (SMA) structures will play an important role in the future. Based on the powerful material model of Helm [1] the present contribution focuses on the coupling between mechanical and thermal fields. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A variational model for the functional fatigue in polycrystalline shape memory alloys

Shape memory alloys show a very complex material behavior associated with a diffusionless solid/solid phase transformation between austenite and martensite. Due to the resulting (thermo-)mechanical properties – namely the effect of pseudoelasticity and pseudoplasticity – they are very promising materials for the current and future technical developments. However, the martensitic phase transformation comes along with a simultaneous plastic deformation and thus, the effect of functional fatigue. We present a variational material model that simulates this effect based on the principle of the minimum of the dissipation potential. We use a combined Voigt/Reuss bound and a coupled dissipation potential to predict the microstructural developments in the polycrystalline material. We present the governing evolution equations for the internal variables and yield functions. In addition, we show some numerical results to prove our model's ability to predict the shape memory alloys' complex inner processes. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A micromechanical model for single‐crystal shape‐memory‐alloys

This work is dealing with solid to solid phase transformations in shape‐memory‐alloys and the simulation of the corresponding characteristic phenomena, e.g. pseudoelasticity and the shape‐memory‐effect. In particular it focuses on the micromechanical behaviour of the material and the appearance of microstructures. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A Regularized Sharp Interface Model for Martensitic Phase Transformations at Large Strains

The macroscopic mechanical behavior of many functional materials crucially depends on the formation and evolution of their microstructure. When considering martensitic shape memory alloys, this microstructure typically consists of laminates with coherent twin boundaries. We suggest a variational-based phase field model for the dissipative evolution of microstructure with coherence-dependent interface energy and construct a suitable gradient-extended incremental variational framework for the proposed dissipative material. We use our model to predict laminate microstructure in martensitic CuAlNi. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Thermomechanical behavior of pseudoelastic NiTi shape memory alloys

The thermomechanical behavior of polycrystalline Ni-rich pseudoelastic NiTi shape memory alloys is analyzed. Special focus is on regions within the stress strain diagram which are regarded as linear elastic in common phenomenological material models, i.e. the region between zero stress and the beginning of the pseudoelastic plateau as well as the region within the hysteresis. In both cases, severe temperature changes can be observed. A possible explanation for this effect is twofold: On the one hand, it might be explained by the presence of an R-phase transformation. On the other hand, unstructured martensite of the B19' phase may form. However, the assumption of a purely thermo-elastic material behavior in those regions does not seem to hold true in general. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Material-Adapted Design of Textile-Reinforced Composite Structures with Optimized Vibro-Acoustic and Damping Properties Including Shear Effects

Advanced analytical models have been developed at the ILK, which offer a possibility of calculating the vibro-acoustic and damping behavior of textile-reinforced composite shells and plates with account of shear effects. The simulation models elaborated have been verified on selected examples, and the analytical results were fully corroborated by accompanying numerical calculations for typical lay-ups.__________Russian translation published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 289–302, May–June, 2005.     

Theoretical and experimental investigation of anisotropic damage in textile-reinforced composite structures

In the present work, a phenomenological plane-stress damage-mechanics-based model for textile-reinforced composites is presented and its predictive capability is evaluated by carrying out a series of experimental tests. Damage variables are introduced to describe the evolution of the damage state and, as a subsequence, the degradation of material stiffness. For calculating the nonlinear stress and strain distribution of complexly loaded composites with a textile reinforcement, a special emphasis has to be placed on the interaction between the fiber failure due to the stress in the fiber direction and the matrix failure due to the transverse and shear stresses. This demands the formulation of realistic failure criteria taking into account the microstructural material behavior and different fracture modes. The new failure criteria, like the fracture mode concepts, consider these fracture modes, as well as further fracture types, in the reinforcement plane. The failure criteria are based on equations for failure surfaces in the stress space and damage thresholds in determining the stiffness degradation of the composite. The model proposed was used to characterize the strength and the failure behavior of carbon-fiber-reinforced composites. For this purpose, several unidirectional and bidirectional tests were performed to determine the specific properties of the material. The specimens were investigated by using acoustic emission techniques and strain-controlled tension and torsion tests.Russian translated published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 40, No. 6, pp. 791–810, November–December, 2004.     

Functional Fatigue in polycrystalline Shape Memory Alloys

Shape memory alloys show the well known effect of pseudo-elasticity associated with the formation of two stress plateaus in the stress/strain diagram for tension tests. Due to cyclic loading, the stress plateaus decrease with every load cycle, particularly the upper one. This important effect of functional fatigue results from plastic deformations that are produced during solid-solid phase transformations between the austenitic and martensitic state. Outgoing from a polycrystalline approach for shape memory alloys we develop a micromechanical material model that is based on the Principle of the Minimum of the Dissipation Potential and predicts the evolution of plastic strains. Therefore, only a small number of material parameters is necessary and additionally, only a few assumptions are sufficient to model the effect of functional fatigue. We present yield functions as well as evolution equations for the volume fractions of austenite and martensite, and the plastic strains. Furthermore, we show an exemplary calculation for Nickel Titanium and compare it with experimental measurements to demonstrate the ability of our model. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Corotational flat triangular elements for the nonlinear analysis of thin shell structures

This contribution shows the effectiveness and versatility of the corotational formulation in the development of shell finite elements for geometric and material nonlinear analysis of thin structures. In particular, flat triangular elements especially suited to shell structures made of shape memory alloys (SMA) or soft biological tissues are dealt with. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Computational modeling of shape memory fibers in conforming and non-conforming compound structures

In this work a material model for shape memory alloy (SMA) fibers is presented. A constitutive model is provided which aims for computational use. The presented model incorporates all relevant material nonlinear phenomena. It takes pseudoplasticity into account as well as pseudoelasticity and further the shape memory effect (SME). The constrained SME (CSME) and the two-way SME are covered by the presented material model. The constitutive model is implemented in a one-dimensional truss formulation and in a 3D-rebar element. Both formulations are used to model fiber composite structures. Those are described by the use of a non-conforming and a conforming mesh on the mesoscale. The numerical examples show the capability of the formulation. Different meshing strategies for the fiber–matrix compound are discussed. (© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On the interrelation between dissipation and chemical energies in modeling shape memory alloys

We use the principle of maximum dissipation for thermo-mechanically coupled modeling of poly-crystalline shape memory alloys (SMA). This modeling scheme demands approaches for both Helmholtz free energy and dissipation. For time-independent processes, dissipation is usually modeled by the norm of the internal variable's rate times a factor. We show that for SMAs this factor is not an additional modeling parameter. In contrast, it can be calculated from the Helmholtz free energy. This reduces the number of model parameters and provides furthermore an interesting effect of the model which allows to display the material behavior in an even more realistic manner. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Simulation of pseudo-plasticity in shape-memory-alloys

The name shape memory originates from the material's capability to recover its original shape after an apparent plastic deformation. The secret of this property lies in the specific microstructure. During mechanical loading, alloys of this particular kind change their crystallographic structure from randomly orientated martensite to ordered martensite. With austenite as high-temperature inter-state induced by heat supply, a recovery from the ordered to the unordered martensite is possible. This is accompanied by a macroscopic "healing" process. We apply our material model for shape-memory alloys to this special property and present numerical results. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

一个新的形状记忆合金模型

借助于Tanaka用一维形核动力学方程导出的指数形式的相变百分数,建立了一个新的形状记忆合金本构模型.提出了不同相变条件下的可恢复形状记忆应变的表达式;考虑了材料在变形过程中马氏体的重定向作用;克服了Tanaka系列模型不能描述当材料为完全马氏体状态时的力学行为的缺点.本模型较现有的形状记忆合金本构模型均简单,便于应用,实验证明了模型的正确性.     

Numerical simulations of poly-crystalline shape-memory alloys based on a micromechanical model

Based on a micormechanical model we describe the material behaviour of specimens made of shape memory alloys by a finite element implementation. These materials undergo solid to solid phase transformations during loading and unloading which determine the characteristic pseudo-elastic or pseudo-plastic material response. Phase transitions, orientation distribution (pole figures) and the influence of pre-texture on the specimen, due to some previous treatment like rolling, are discussed. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Simulation of asymmetric effects for shape memory alloys

Experimental results of shape memory alloys show a pronounced asymmetric behaviour between tension, compression and shear. For simulation of these effects in the constitutive equations different transformation strain tensors are introduced. These are related to the different variants for the multi-variant- and detwinned-martensite as a consequence of different stress states. In the framework of plasticity the concept of stress mode dependent weighting functions is applied in order to characterize the different stress states. Verification of the proposed methodology is succeeded for simulation of the pseudoelastic behaviour of shape memory alloys with different hardening characteristics in tension, compression and shear. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)