Abstract
This work makes a contribution regearding research of the generation of small strokes of electrically activated shape memory actuator wires. Binary Ni50Ti50 wires of 100 mm length and diameter of 0.3mm are investigated. Within the scope of this work, a test rig has been designed and built to carry out the performed experiments. One side of the wire was fixed while the other side worked against a spring. The spring force provided the resetting of the wire. The spring constant was chosen low to avoid a strong influence of the spring deflection on the force.
The activation of the shape memory effect of the wires on this test rig was executed electrically by resistance heating and the adjustment of the mechanical load has been solved by pretensioning the spring. Four series of tests have been carried out to determine the feasibility and operational reliability of small stroke ranges. The focus here is on whether such strokes can be generated at all by means of electrical activation and on the other hand, how precisely these strokes can be achieved repeatably.
