Large bending actuator made with SMA contractile wires: theory,numerical simulation and experiments

In this paper, the modeling, numerical simulation and experimental validation of the deformation of a composite cantilever beam actuated by shape memory alloy (SMA) wires are presented and discussed. The structural model incorporates a number of non-classical features such as laminated construction and anisotropy of constituent material layers, transverse shear deformability, distortion of the normals, and fulfillment of interfacial shear traction continuity requirement. Suitable for use in standard finite element codes, a numerical procedure is developed for solving the geometric non-linearity of the host structure and the hysteretic non-linearity of SMA wires, which is based upon the updated Lagrangian formulation. The application concerns an elastomeric beam with embedded and pre-stressed SMA wires at an offset from the neutral axis, which act as large bending actuators resulting from the thermally induced reversible transformation strains. The experiments and numerical simulation demonstrate the good predictive capability of the model proposed and the powerful role played by SMAs as large bending actuators.