Design optimisation of shape memory alloy linear actuator applications

Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators have drawn much attention and interest in recent decades due to their unique properties; and, are expected to be increasingly integrated within commercial automotive applications. Key advantages of SMA actuators include: potentially simplified construction, whereby the SMA can act as both sensor and actuator simultaneously; compatibility with Joule heating and convective ambient cooling; and, potential mass advantages over competing actuation technologies. These attributes potentially allow for the development of simpler, more reliable and cost effective actuation systems with significant reduction in mechanical complexity and size. SMA is readily available in commercial quantities and exhibits high wear resistance and durability, which make it an ideal candidate for application in automotive grade applications. Despite these identified advantages, SMA actuators are subject to a series of technical challenges associated with:  - Relatively small strain (displacement or stroke)  - Achievable frequency (actuation speed)  - Controllability (and stability)  - Positional accuracy  - Energy efficiency These technical challenges contribute to a relatively low success rate of commercial SMA actuator applications; and, provide motivation for this program to generate relevant research outcomes that enhance the commercialisation of SMA actuators. An extensive literature review of over 500 journal and patent documents was conducted to provide a clear roadmap for the commercial imperatives for SMA design. The formulated research methodology identifies milestones required for achieving the research objectives, which were addressed as research themes. Based on this literature review, the following research themes were identified:  - Design methods to resolve SMA actuator limitations  - Development of simple and practical numerical models for SMA actuator response  - Data for SMA linear actuator design Specific research contributions within these themes are presented within the thesis, with the objective of enhancing the commercial application of shape memory alloy (SMA) linear actuators, and include:  - A comprehensive analysis of SMAs: history, commercial applications, strength and limitations, design challenges and         opportunities.  - A novel investigation of transient heat transfer scenarios for cylindrical systems associated with their crossover and critical radii.  - Development of novel latent heat models for analytical and numerical applications, and proposal of readily applied activation and deactivation charts compatible with the requirements of SMA actuator designers.  - A novel investigation of the morphological effects of SMA-pulley systems (i.e. pulley diameter, SMA and lagging diameter) on structural and functional fatigue

Local community perceptions on sea turtle egg consumption in Redang Island, Malaysia

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Changing culture: Factors influencing sea turtle egg consumption in Redang Island, Malaysia

info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublishe

Identification of Model Parameter for the Simulation of SMA Structures Using Full Field Measurements

With the design of new devices with complex geometry and to take advantage of their large recoverable strains, shape memory alloys components (SMA) are increasingly subjected to multiaxial loadings. The development process of SMA devices requires the prediction of their thermomechanical response, where the calibration of the material parameters for the numerical model is an important step. In this work, the parameters of a phenomenological model are extracted from multiaxial and heterogeneous tests carried out on specimens with the same thermomechanical loading history. Finite element analysis enables the computation of numerical strain fields using a thermodynamical constitutive model for shape memory alloys previously implemented in a finite element code. The strain fields computed numerically are compared with experimental ones obtained by DIC to find the model parameters which best matches experimental measurements using a newly developed parallelized mixed genetic/gradient-based optimization algorithm. These numerical simulations are carried out in parallel in a supercomputer to reduce the time necessary to identify the set of identified parameters. The major features of this new algorithm is its ability to identify material parameters of the thermomechanical behavior of shape memory alloys from full-field measurements for various loading conditions (different temperatures, multiaxial behavior, heterogeneous test configurations). It is demonstrated that model parameters for the simulation of SMA structures are thus obtained based on a reduced number of heterogeneous tests at different temperatures.NSF International Institute of Multifunctional Materials for Energy Conversion (IIMEC), award #084108

Removal of Iron and Manganese in Groundwater using Natural Biosorbent

This study was conducted to measure and compare the concentration of iron, manganese and hardness of the river and groundwater and to determine the effectiveness of iron and manganese removal by using natural biosorbent which is banana peels. The samples of river and groundwater were collected at riverbank filtration site at Jenderam Hilir, Dengkil. Based on the water quality investigation, the concentration of iron and manganese in the samples of groundwater have exceeded the drinking water quality standard which are 0.3 mg/L for iron and 0.1 mg/L for manganese. The removal process of the iron and manganese in the groundwater was done by using 2, 4 and 8 grams of banana peels activated carbon. It is found that with higher amount of activated banana peels, the removal of iron and manganese is more effective. The ranges of percentage of iron and manganese removal are between 82.25% to 90.84% and 98.79% to 99.43% respectively. From the result, banana peels activated carbon can be concluded as a one of the most effective low-cost adsorbent for groundwater treatment

Designing shape memory alloy linear actuators: A review

In numerous studies, it was emphasised that only a few of patented shape memory alloy applications are commercially successful due to material limitations combined with a lack of material and design knowledge and associated tools. This work further emphasises that these limitations may be improved or even resolved with proper design approaches and techniques; thus, the functionality and the reliability of shape memory alloy actuators could be realised and optimised. A brief review of the recent progress and development in optimising shape memory alloy linear actuator with different design methods, techniques and/or approaches are presented and discussed in this review

Fatigue of NiTi SMA-pulley system using Taguchi and ANOVA

Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators can be integrated with a pulley system to provide mechanical advantage and to reduce packaging space; however, there appears to be no formal investigation of the effect of a pulley system on SMA structural or functional fatigue. In this work, cyclic testing was conducted on nickel-titanium (NiTi) SMA actuators on a pulley system and a control experiment (without pulley). Both structural and functional fatigues were monitored until fracture, or a maximum of 1E5 cycles were achieved for each experimental condition. The Taguchi method and analysis of the variance (ANOVA) were used to optimise the SMA-pulley system configurations. In general, one-way ANOVA at the 95% confidence level showed no significant difference between the structural or functional fatigue of SMA- pulley actuators and SMA actuators without pulley. Within the sample of SMA-pulley actuators, the effect of activation duration had the greatest significance for both structural and functional fatigue, and the pulley configuration (angle of wrap and sheave diameter) had a greater statistical significance than load magnitude for functional fatigue. This work identified that structural and functional fatigue performance of SMA-pulley systems is optimised by maximising sheave diameter and using an intermediate wrap-angle, with minimal load and activation duration. However, these parameters may not be compatible with commercial imperatives. A test was completed for a commercially optimal SMA-pulley configuration. This novel observation will be applicable to many areas of SMA-pulley system applications development

A review of shape memory alloy research, applications and opportunities

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) belong to a class of shape memory materials (SMMs), which have the ability to 'memorise' or retain their previous form when subjected to certain stimulus such as thermomechanical or magnetic variations. SMAs have drawn significant attention and interest in recent years in a broad range of commercial applications, due to their unique and superior properties; this commercial development has been supported by fundamental and applied research studies. This work describes the attributes of SMAs that make them ideally suited to actuators in various applications, and addresses their associated limitations to clarify the design challenges faced by SMA developers. This work provides a timely review of recent SMA research and commercial applications, with over 100 state-of-the-art patents; which are categorised against relevant commercial domains and rated according to design objectives of relevance to these domains (particularly automotive, aerospace, robotic and biomedical). Although this work presents an extensive review of SMAs, other categories of SMMs are also discussed; including a historical overview, summary of recent advances and new application opportunities