Powder metallurgy fabrication of hybrid monolithic SMA actuators

MRS Advances, 2021

New biomedical technological developments such as prosthetics and orthotics require a synergistic use of actuators, sensors, and microcontrollers. In order to obtain lighter machines, alternative actuators such as deformable micromotors and actuators are found. Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) are materials for which the Shape Memory Effect can be used to generate controlled displacements by inducing thermal variations through electric excitation signals. The Nickel Titanium SMAs have attracted scientific and technological attention for the development of flexible actuators. In particular, Nitinol is a material that can be trained in memory and form, reaching a large force while being light with a rapid mechanical response. This article presents a design and implementation methodology of Nitinol SMA-based actuators including a procedure of displacement characterization of the material, as well as the relations between thermal, mechanical and electric variables for a customized implementation.

Thermomechanical behavior of bulk NiTi shape‑memory‑alloy microactuators based on bimorph actuation, 2015

Shape-memory-alloy (SMA) has attracted considerable attention in recent years as a smart and efficient material, due to its unique properties. SMA microactuators became one of the potential solutions for unresolved issues in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). This paper presents a thermomechanical behavior analysis of bimorph SMA structure and studies the effect of varying the SMA layer thickness, the type of stress layer and its thickness, and the processing temperature on the displacement of the microactuator. Furthermore, the analyzed results were verified by experimental work, where the fabrication of the SMA microactuators followed the standards of the MEMS fabrication process. SiO2, Si3N4 and Poly-Si were used as stress layers. The fabrication results showed that the bimorph SMA structure achieved maximum displacement when SiO2 was used. The SMA structure with dimensions of 10 mm (length) × 2 mm (width) × 80 µm (thickness), had maximum displacement of 804 µm when 4.1 µm of SiO2 layer was deposited at a temperature of 400 °C.

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are used as active elements in novel actuation devices. Two generic types of SMA actuators can be distinguished according to the type of bias passive-bias actuators where an elastic component serves as a bias and active-bias actuators where two SMA elements are connected together. This paper describes an experimental testing bench developed for the characterization of SMA active elements and their testing in a real actuation environment. The characterization of SMA active elements is performed under three complementary testing modes: (a) constant-stress, (b) fixed-support, and (c) elasticbias recovery modes. Force, displacement and temperature data acquired during testing of a given SMA active element are then used to assess the mechanical work-generation potential of this active element and, ultimately, for the design of an SMA actuator containing this element. Finally, a case study is presented to illustrate the experimental design methodology and results.

Materials Science and Engineering: A, 2008

One important challenge of microsystems design is the implementation of miniaturized actuation principles efficient at the micro-scale. Shape Memory Alloys have early on been considered as a potential solution to this problem as these materials offer attractive properties like a high-power to weight ratio, large deformation and the capability to be processed at the microscale.

Analele Universităţii "Eftimie Murgu" Reşiţa: Fascicola I, Inginerie, 2009

Even it has been recognized that Shape Memory Alloys have a significant potential for deployment actuators, the number of applications of SMA-based actuators to the present day is still quite small, due to the need of deep understanding of the thermomechanical behavior of SMA. SMAs offer attractive potentials such as: reversible strains of several percent, generation of high recovery stresses and high power / weight ratios. This paper tries to provide an overview of the shape memory functions. A table with property values for different properties of shape memory alloys is also included

2005

Thls paper presents the application of systematic model-based design techniques to the design of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuators. Shape memory alloys are promising materials for (micro-)actuation, because of the relatively large deformations and forces that can be achieved. However, the complex ctmstitutive behavior and the fact that several physical domains (electrical, thermal and mechanical) play a role makes it difficult to design effective SMA actuators with complex shapes and layouts.

Antagonistic shape memory actuators use opposing shape memory alloy (SMA) elements to create devices capable of producing differential motion paths and two-way mechanical work in a very efficient manner. There is no requirement for additional bias elements to 're-arm' the actuators and allow repetitive actuation. The work generation potential of antagonistic shape memory actuators is determined by specific SMA element characteristics and their assembly conditions. In this study, the selected SMA wires are assembled in antagonistic configuration and characterized using a dedicated test bench to evaluate their stress-strain characteristics as a function of the number of cycles. Using these functional characteristics, a so-called 'working envelope' is built to assist in the design of such an actuator. Finally, the test bench is used to simulate a real application of an antagonistic actuator (case study).

2016

Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators in microelectromechanical system (MEMS) have a broad range of applications. The alloy material has unique properties underlying its high working density, simple structures, large displacement and excellent biocompatibility. These features have led to its commercialization in several applications such as micro-robotics and biomedical areas. However, full utilization of SMA is yet to be exploited as it faces various practical issues. In the area of microactuators in particular, fabricated devices suffer from low degrees of freedom (DoF), complex fabrication processes, larger sizes and limited displacement range. This thesis presents novel techniques of developing bulk-micromachined SMA microdevices by applying integration of multiple SMA microactuators, and monolithic methods using standard and unconventional MEMS fabrication processes. The thermomechanical behavior of the developed bimorph SMA microactuator is analyzed by studying the parameters suc...

Interest in high-temperature shape memory alloys (HTSMA) has been growing in the aerospace, automotive, process control, and energy industries. However, actual materials development has seriously lagged component design, with current commercial NiTi alloys severely limited in their temperature capability. Additions of Pd, Pt, Au, Hf, and Zr at levels greater than 10 at.% have been shown to increase the transformation temperature of NiTi alloys, but with few exceptions, the shape memory behavior (strain recovery) of these NiTiX systems has been determined only under stress free conditions. Given the limited amount of basic mechanical test data and general lack of information regarding the work attributes of these materials, a program to investigate the mechanical behavior of potential HTSMAs, with transformation temperatures between 100 and 500 °C, was initiated. This paper summarizes the results of studies, focusing on both the practical temperature limitations for ternary TiNiPd an...

ASME 2011 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems, Volume 1, 2011

While bulk shape memory alloys (SMAs) have proven a successful means for creating adaptive aerospace structures in many demonstrations, including live flight tests, the time required to cool such actuators has been identified as a property that could inhibit their commercial implementation in some circumstances. To determine best practices for improving cooling times, several approaches to increase the surface area and reduce the mass of existing bulk actuator technologies have been examined. Specifically, geometries created using traditional milling and EDM techniques were compared with micro-channel geometries made possible by a new electrochemical milling process developed at Northwestern. The latter technique involves imbedding steel space-holders in a matrix of NiTi powders, hot isostatic pressing the preform into a dense composite, and then electro-chemically dissolving the steel. Thus, in a two-step process, it is possible to create an actuation structure with numerous micro-channels with excellent control of geometry, shape, size and placement, to reduce weight and increase surface area (and thus decrease response time) without compromising actuator performance. In this paper, the new, lighter-weight, faster cycling shapememory alloy actuation structures resulting from each technique are reviewed. Their performances are compared and contrasted through the results of a numerical study conducted with a 3D SMA constitutive law developed specifically to handle the complex, non-proportional loadings that arise in porous structures. It is shown that using micro-channel technology, cooling times are significantly reduced relative to traditional machining techniques for the same amount of mass reduction.