THE INVESTIGATION OF PSEUDOELASTIC NITI WIRES FOR DAMPING USES

Some shape memory alloys like NiTi show noticeable high damping property in pseudoelastic range. Due to its instinct characteristics, a NiTi alloy is commonly used for passive damping applications, in which the energy may be dissipated by the conversion from mechanical to thermal energy. Previous researches found the NiTi wires own higher damping property than the bars; therefore the wire form is adopted in this study. A loss factor is introduced for measuring the damping property of the NiTi wires. The experimental observation shows the mechanical behaviors of NiTi wires are dependent on temperature, strain rate and strain amplitude. Moreover, it is found the first several decades of loading-unloading cycles can obviously influence the property of NiTi wires under the same working conditions.