An experimental method to measure initiation events during unstable stress-induced martensitic transformation in a shape memory alloy wire

An experimental configuration is demonstrated that captures features of the initiation of unstable stress-induced transformation in a shape memory alloy (SMA). The apparatus uses circulating fluids through the grips and a heat sink and thermoelectric devices to control the temperature profile of a specimen within a mechanical testing machine. The configuration can be used to restrict the initiation of phase transformation to a small region of interest of the free length, while permitting full-field optical tracking, infrared imaging, use of laser extensometry, and monitoring of load and extension. In this way, some longstanding difficulties in the measurement of thermo-mechanical phenomena in SMA wire have been resolved. The size of initiation stress peaks can be accurately measured for both transformation directions without changing the wire geometry, the temperature of a region of interest can be selected over a wide range, and imaging can be performed for multiple loading cycles and for events that occur from static to near dynamic rates. The motivation for this work is to produce high quality data for use in calibrating numerical models that study thermo-mechanical coupling during unstable transformation behavior.