Impact damage behaviour of shape memory alloy composites

Currently there is an increased interest in the use of shape memory alloy composites (SMA composites). Many potential uses have been found for SMA composites, for example, in shape control and vibration control. However there is not a lot of information available on the properties of SMA composites since it is still a relatively new area. Recent investigations have been conducted on their transformational behaviour, which provides the valuable first step information required for implementing these composites into real structures. However, further work still needs to be completed on other aspects of these composites. This article investigates the impact damage behaviour of SMA-composites. The results show that for low velocity impact, embedding SMA wires into composites does not compromise the structure any differently to composites without wires. In fact, it has been shown that for some cases there is an improvement in the damage resistance of the composites. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.