Modelling and testing smart aileron servo tabs : developing simulation tools for smart materials

Abstract

This dissertation addresses the development and the testing of a simulation tool to be used to predict the behaviour of smart material/structures. Along with the development of the simulation tool, a new form of the model describing the behaviour of shape-memory alloy was developed and implemented. The proposed model was developed based on the existing cosine model, conventionally used in literature, but it uses hyperbolic tangent functions. The hyperbolic tangent function was chosen so as to allow the simulation of any range of temperatures. Experiments were performed to obtain the parameters to be used in the simulation and to validate the numerical results. Two different simulations were performed: a one dimensional FEA analysis with a two dimensional orientation (NiTi SMA wire simulation) and a three dimensional FEA analysis (NiTi SMA plate) [Msomi and Oliver, 2015]. Alongside the FEA analysis, two experiments were performed with the purpose of obtaining the material parameters to be used in FEA analysis and to compare the FEA results to the experimental results.