Abstract:
Shape Memory Materials (SMMs) are the type of materials that memorize their shape and retain their shape when certain external force interacts with them. Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) are important member of shape memory materials class and they come back to their programmed shape when subjected to magnetic or thermomechanical variations. Over the past few decades, shape memory alloys have gained great significance and they are now being used in biomedical, robotics, aerospace and many other industrial applications. Nitinol is an equiatomic alloy containing Nickel and Titanium and it is the best shape memory alloy among all the polycrystalline shape memory alloys. Different techniques have been used to find the characteristics of shape memory alloys. In this thesis a test bench is developed along with the software for the testing of Nitinol wire using different sensors and actuators.
Nitinol retains its programmed shape when it is subjected to Joule Heating. In order to find the properties of Nitinol wire when it is Joule heated, a software is developed. LabVIEW 2015 that is user friendly and easy to interface with hardware is used for the development of software. A Nitinol wire is pre-loaded and then Joule heated and the characteristics of the wire are obtained with the help of different sensors and the software. The results are validated by comparing with other researches and different experiments are performed that gives the relationship between displacement and the applied stress.
