SMA-based devices: insight across recent proposals toward civil engineering applications

Metallic shape memory alloys present fascinating physical properties such as their super-elastic behavior in austenite phase, which can be exploited for providing a structure with both a self-centering capability and an increased ductility. More or less accurate numerical models have been introduced to model their behavior along the last 25 years. This is the reason for which the literature is rich of suggestions/proposals on how to implement this material in devices for passive and semi-active control. Nevertheless, the thermo-mechanical coupling characterizing the first-order martensite phase transformation process results in several macroscopic features affecting the alloy performance. In particular, the effects of day-night and winter-summer temperature excursions require special attention. This aspect might imply that the deployment of some devices should be restricted to indoor solutions. A further aspect is the dependence of the behavior from the geometry one adopts. Two fundamental lacks of symmetry should also be carefully considered when implementing a SMA-based application: the behavior in tension is different from that in compression, and the heating is easy and fast whereas the cooling is not. This manuscript focuses on the passive devices recently proposed in the literature for civil engineering applications. Based on the challenges above identified, their actual feasibility is investigated in detail and their long term performance is discussed with reference to their fatigue life. A few available semi-active solutions are also considered.