Development of a frequency-dependent constitutive model for hysteresis of shape memory alloys

In this study, a constitutive model based on Liang-Rogers's relations is developed to characterize the effect of the excitation frequency in the hysteresis of shape memory alloys. Shape memory alloys are good candidates as smart actuators because of their high strain and power density, although the complex hysteresis behavior barricades their usage. Although constitutive models are one of the most potent methods to predict the shape memory alloys behavior, they cannot consider the effect of excitation frequency in active applications. In this paper, the Liang-Rogers model is modified to consider this effect using a linear relation between the excitation frequency and martensite transformation temperatures. A shape memory alloy-driven actuator as a morphing wing is employed to characterize the frequency effect on shape memory alloy hysteresis. Experimental results show that the hysteresis is widened when the excitation frequency increases. The modeling results show that the original model significantly fails to predict the correct behavior when the frequency increases, whereas the proposed model can adequately handle the frequency effect on the behavior of the shape memory alloy-driven actuator.