Modeling and Numerical Simulation on Thermomechanical Behavior of SMA Plates with Two-Way Shape Memory Effect

Phenomenological modeling on the thermomechanical behavior of shape memory alloy (SMA) plates with two-way shape memory effect (TWSME) is presented in this paper. Two important characteristics of SMA materials as sensors or actuators; the thermal responses and the transformation accompanied deformation; are described by the proposed models. The latent heat effect during transformation is approximately expressed by an apparent specific heat as a function of transformation temperatures. The transformation-induced deformation of SMA plates is described by newly defined transformation expansion coefficients, based on the physical understanding of the mechanism of TWSME. The proposed model is verified by the comparison between numerical simulation and experiments on the thermomechanical behavior of SMA plates.