Dynamic loading of polycrystalline shape memory alloy rods

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) have recently been considered for dynamic loading applications for energy absorbing and vibration damping devices. An SMA body subjected to external dynamic loading will experience large inelastic deformations that will propagate through the body as phase transformation and/or detwinning shock waves. The wave propagation problem in a cylindrical polycrystalline SMA rod induced by an impact loading is considered in this paper. Numerical solutions for various boundary conditions are presented for stress induced martensite and detwinning of martensite. The numerical simulations utilize an adaptive finite element method (FEM) based on the Zienkiewicz-Zhu error estimator. Selected results are compared to known analytical solutions to verify the adaptive FEM approach. The energy dissipation in an SMA rod is evaluated for a square pulse stress input applied at various temperatures involving both stress induced martensite and detwinning of martensite. The dynamic response of a NiTi SMA rod is also studied experimentally in a split Hopkinson bar apparatus under detwinning conditions. Strain history records obtained by strain gauges placed at different locations along the SMA rod are compared with numerical simulations for a square pulse stress input. The quasi-static and dynamic stress-strain hysteretic response of the SMA, both due to detwinning, are found to be nearly identical. The quasi-static tests are used to calibrate the rate independent constitutive model used for the numerical simulations, which are found to match the experimental observations reasonably well. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.