M. Dolce et D. Cardone, Mechanical behaviour of shape memory alloys for seismic applications - 2. Austenite NiTi wires subjected to tension, INT J MECH, 43(11), 2001, pp. 2657-2677
The results of cyclic tensile tests on superelastic NiTi shape memory alloy
(SMA) wires are presented and discussed. The tests were carried out within
a large experimental test programme for the MANSIDE Project, with the scop
e of verifying the suitability of SMA superelastic wires as kernel componen
ts for seismic protection devices.
The mechanical behaviour is described by means of four fundamental quantiti
es, namely: secant stiffness, energy loss per cycle, equivalent damping and
residual strain. The sensitivity to temperature and strain rate,, as well
as the influence of strain amplitude and the effects due to repeated cyclic
deformation, are analysed in detail.
The experimental results show that the characteristics of the superelastic
wires are well suited for seismic applications, as both the recentring and
the energy dissipating features of the devices can be easily obtained. More
over, the influence of the investigated parameters, within their usual rang
e of variation in seismic protection devices, is compatible with the use of
superelastic wires for practical applications. (C) 2001 Published by Elsev
ier Science Ltd.