Thermomechanical investigation of TiNi shape memory alloy and PU shape memory polymer subjected to cyclic loading

In applications to sensors, actuators, guide wires, special grips for handicapped people, a shape memory alloy (SMA) or shape memory polymer (SMP) are used as working elements that perform cyclic motions. In order to evaluate the reliability of the shape memory materials (SMM), cycling and fatigue deformation properties are investigated. Since the SMM are very sensitive to temperature, not only mechanical properties but also their related temperature changes accompanying the deformation process should be taken into account. The presented paper embraces experimental investigation of effects of thermomechanical couplings occurring in shape memory alloy and shape memory polymer subjected to various kinds of cycling loading. The deformation was carried out on MTS 858 Testing machine. The strain was measured by a mechanical extensometer, so the stress-strain characteristics were elaborated with high accuracy. Furthermore, a fast and sensitive FLIR Co Phoenix infrared (IR) measurement system was used in order to record infrared radiation from the sample surface. It enables obtaining temperature distribution of the sample as a function of the deformation parameters. For each strain cycle, an increase in temperature during the loading and the temperature decrease during the unloading processes was observed. It was found that the temperature increment recorded during the cyclic deformation depends on the strain rate, the kind of the material and the test conditions. The higher the strain rate the higher the stress and temperature changes were obtained, since the deformation process was more dynamic and has occurred in almost adiabatic conditions. It was shown that various deformation mechanisms are active during various loading stages.