Phenomenological modeling of the thermo-magneto-mechanical behavior of magnetic shape memory alloys

Magnetic shape memory alloy is an interesting class of material that offers fast and contactless actuation associated with large deformation. This article deals with a novel constitutive model based on internal variables that describes the phenomenological behavior of magnetic shape memory alloys. Model formulation is developed within the framework of continuum mechanics and thermodynamics defining a mixture free energy potential based on four macroscopic phases. Zeeman effect is considered to incorporate the magnetic behavior. A numerical procedure is proposed to deal with the model nonlinearities. Model predictions are presented for different thermo-magneto-mechanical loadings treating reorientation and phase transformations. Numerical simulations are carried out showing the model capabilities and comparisons with experimental data available in the literature attesting its ability to capture the general thermo-magneto-mechanical behavior of magnetic shape memory alloys.