• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.226-230
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• 2005

This paper presents the actuation performance of a conducting shape memory polyurethane (CSMPU) actuator. We introduced a concept of shape memory polyurethane activated by electric power while conventional shape memory polyurethanes are activated by external heat source. A conducting shape memory polyurethane actuator was manufactured by adding cabon nano-tube to conventional shape memory polyurethane. The main problem of the previous CSMPU was bad dispersion of carbon nano-tubes in polyurethane. In this paper, we have tried to find manufacturing method to solve the dispersion problem. With a lot of elaborative works, we have developed conducting shape memory polyurethane actuator with good electrical performance. The actuation performance of the developed conducting shape memory polyurethane actuator was measured and assessed.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.437-445
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• 1998

The actuator using shape memory alloy spring with bias spring can act as a bidirectional actuator due to the restoring force of the bias spring. In the design of shape memory actuator with bias spring, the required design specifications are the generated force and the necessary stroke. To fulfill these requirements, shape memory alloy spring and bias spring should be designed carefully considering the specified application. In this paper, the novel design method for shape memory alloy actuator with bias spring, which does not require any assumptions from experience, has been proposed and verified by the test of fabricated shape memory alloy actuator. The experimental results show good agreements with calculated values, which guarantees the practical validity of our proposed design method.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.287-290
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• 2004

A structure using the two-way shape memory effect (TWSME) returns to its initial shape by increasing or decreasing temperature under initial residual stress. Through the thermo-mechanical constitutive equation of shape memory alloy(SMA) proposed by Lagoudas et al., we simulate the behavior of a double actuator in which two SMA wires are attached to the tip of panel under the initially given residual stress. Through the numerical results conducted in the present study, the proposed actuator device is suitable for repeated actuation. The simulation algorithm proposed in the present study can be applied extensively to the analysis of the assembled .system of SMA-actuator and host structure in the practical applications.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.87-95
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• 1992

Recently, the robot actuator worked by the driving recovery-force of the thermo elastic martensitic transformation of shape memory alloys(SMA) has been studied. In general, such a SMA actuator necessitates a number of cyclic repeated motion, so that the investigation of gradual decrease of recovery force with repeated motion cycle as well as the prevention of such a degradation of shape memory effect(SME) are very important for the actual use of a robot actuator. However, such research and discussions about the degradation of SME are very few up to the present. Therefore, in this study, the characteristics of the cyclic deformation and degradation of SME of Ti-Ni alloy would be investigated and discussed in detail by current heat type fatigue tester, which is a newly designed fatigue tester by author. In addition, we will establish a new design concept for robot actuator from these result.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.210-215
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• 2008

This paper presents an experimental study on a bending actuator with a shape memory alloy wire. In this study, we introduced design process and experimental result of the bending actuator. The bending actuator consists of a SMA wire, springs, and a glass/epoxy strip. In the bending actuator, springs were used to restore the SMA wire to its initial shape right after actuation. To obtain properties of the SMA wire, DSC test was performed and the behavior of the SMA wire under different loadings was observed. Finally, the proposed bending actuator shows reasonable actuation behavior with relatively lower power consumption, fast response and effective efficiency.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.263-270
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• 1995

The use of the shape memory alloy, Nitinol wire, is investigated as an actuator for enhancing the damping in structural vibration systems. The first-order mathematical model of the Nitinol wire is obtained from the experimental data for an actuator. Finite element method is utilized for the strain gage sensor model, which is installed at the root of cantilever beam. A simple system, cantilever beam, is built as a flexible structural system to implement a control law with the Nitinol wire actuator. The system model including sensor and actuator is derived, which agrees with the experimental results. The actuator dynamics is augmented with the system so as to design PI controller and the one of robust controllers, LQG/LTR controller, and the control laws are implemented experimentally. The experimental study shows the feasibility of utilizing the Nitinol wire as an actuator for the purpose of vibration control.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.100-103
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• 2005

This work discusses the numerical analysis, the design and experimental test of the SMA (Shape Memory Alloy) actuator along with its capabilities and limitations. Convection heating and cooling using water actuate the SMA element of the actuator. The fuel such as propane, having a high energy density, is used as the energy source for the SMA actuator in order to increase power and energy density of the system, and thus in order to obviate the need for electrical power supplies such as batteries. The system is composed of a pump, valves, bellows, a heater (burner), control unit and a displacement amplification device. The actuation frequency is compared with the prediction obtained from numerical analysis. For the designed SMA actuator system, the results of numerical analysis were utilized in determining design parameters and operating conditions.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.269-274
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• 1999

A bending actuator using zigzag type shape memory alloy springs has been fabricated and characterized. The fabricated millimeter-sized actuator has outer diameter of 3.0mm and inner diameter of 2.0mm. The zigzag type spring is more suitable for thin wall type actuator because the zigzag type spring has a planar structure comparing with the coil type spring which has a three-dimensional structure. The measured characteristics of the fabricated bending actuator show the possibility of practical application to micro active bending catheters.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1154-1162
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• 2020

In this study, the soft textile actuator is produced for a smart wearable with the shape memory effects from linear shape memory alloys of Nickel and Titanium using the driving force through the fabrication process. The measurement model was designed to measure dynamic characteristics. The heating method, and memory shape of the linear shape memory alloy were set to measure the operating temperature. A shape memory alloy at 40.13℃, was used to heat the alloy with a power supply for the selective operation and rapid reaction speed. The required amount of current was obtained by calculating the amount of heat and (considering the prevention of overheating) set to 1.3 A. The fabrication process produced a soft textile actuator using a stitching technique for linear shape memory alloys at 0.5 mm intervals in the general fabric. The dynamic characteristics of linear shape memory alloys and actuators were measured and compared. For manufactured soft textile actuators, up to 0.8 N, twice the force of the single linear shape memory alloy, 0.38 N, and the response time was measured at 50 s.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.765-784
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• 2014

In comparison with conventional shape memory actuated structures, antagonistic shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators permits a fully reversible two-way response and higher response frequency. However, excessive internal stress could adversely reduce the stroke of the actuators under repeated use. The two-way shape memory effect might further decrease the range of the recovered strain under actuation of an antagonistic SMA actuator unless additional components (e.g., spring and stopper) are added to regain the overall actuation capability. In this paper, the performance of all four possible types of SMA actuation schemes is investigated in detail with emphasis on five key properties: recovered strain, cyclic degradation, response frequency, self-sensing control accuracy, and controllable maximum output. The testing parameters are chosen based on the maximization of recovered strain. Three types of these actuators are antagonistic SMA actuators, which drive with two active SMA wires in two directions. The antagonistic SMA actuator with an additional pair of springs exhibits wider displacement range, more stable performance under reuse, and faster response, although accurate control cannot be maintained under force interference. With two additional stoppers to prevent the over stretch of the spring, the results showed that the proposed structure could achieve significant improvement on all five properties. It can be concluded that, the last type actuator scheme with additional spring and stopper provide much better applicability than the other three in most conditions. The results of the performance analysis of all four SMA actuators could provide a solid basis for the practical design of SMA actuators.