ACTUATOR APPLICATIONS WITH SINGLE-CRYSTALS OF CU-ZN-AL SHAPE-MEMORY ALLOYS

In the present work the use of single crystals of shape memory materia ls in actuater applications is analyzed. An actuator is a device capab le of doing work in response to an external stimulus. In the case anal yzed here a change in temperature in a certain range produces the disp lacement of an applied load. An actuator consists in a single crystal nucleus of a Cu-Zn-Al shape memory alloy coupled to a conventional ela stic material that represents the load to be displaced. A special expe rimental stage was designed for doing controlled thermal cycles under load. in this way the effects of different parameters (cycle number fr iction, temperature range, load level) on the actuator behavior can be studied. From these results the characteristics of a thermostatic act uator are discussed.