Materials and Design 23 Ž2002.

11᎐19

On the selection of shape memory alloys for actuators

W. HuangU
School of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Nanyang Technological Uni¨ ersity, Nanyang A¨ enue, Singapore 639798, Singapore

Received 21 June 2000; accepted 2 April 2001

Abstract

This paper presents a series of charts for the selection of shape memory alloys ŽSMAs. for actuators. It is based on
performance indices with special reference to the unique features of SMA actuators. The three most popular polycrystalline
SMAs are candidates of current study, namely, NiTi, CuZnAl and CuAlNi. More SMAs may be added in to give a complete
picture. 䊚 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Shape memory alloy; Actuator; Selection; Performance index

1. Introduction shape after being significantly deformed from heating

The unique shape memory behavior in some smart
materials attracts a lot of attention from various com-
munities. Among them, shape memory alloys ŽSMAs.
show great potential in many applications, in particular,
as novel actuators. Many alloys displaying shape me-
mory have been found and considerable effort is still
being made to discover new materials. However, the
property of these SMAs varies significantly. It turns out
to be necessary to have a systematic scheme for the
selection of SMAs. There are some preliminary works
on this topic w1,2x, which cover some concerns in real
applications. The aim of this paper is to present a
series of charts for the selection of SMAs for actuators,
in particular, at the pre-design stage. Current discus-
sion focuses on the three most popular polycrystalline
SMAs, namely, NiTi, CuZnAl and CuAlNi. The discus-
sion is purely based on the material properties reported
in the literature.
2. Properties of SMAs
A SMA is able to memorize and recover its original
U remember the high temperature austenite shape, two-
Tel.: q65-7904859; fax: q65-7911859.
E-mail address: mwmhuang@ntu.edu.sg ŽW. Huang..
over the phase transformation temperature. This
phenomenon is known as shape memory effect, Fig. 1a.
On the other hand, at a high temperature, the large
deformation can be fully recovered by simply releasing
the applied load. This is superelasticity, Fig. 1b. What is
involved in both kinds of phenomena is either transfor-
mation between low temperature phase Žmartensite .
and high temperature phase Žaustenite . or reorienta-
tion among different martensite variants.
It is well known that SMA is very sensitive to the
exact composition, grain size, processing Žincluding heat
treatment . and loading conditions w3x. The inclusion of
additional elements with minute quantity may change
the properties of a SMA dramatically. For instance, the
addition of a small amount of copper in NiTi SMA
makes the transformation temperature less sensitive to
composition and hysteresis gap narrower w4x, adding a
small amount of palladium into NiTi SMA, high trans-
formation temperature Žover 200⬚C. is achievable w5x.
The sensitivity of SMA seems to be an intrinsic disad-
vantage. On the other hand, it provides tremendous
flexibility to get exactly what is wanted within a far
broader range on comparison with traditional materi-
als.
Unlike ordinary one-way SMA, which can only
way SMA, which can remember both high and low

0261-3069r02r$ - see front matter 䊚 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 2 6 1 - 3 0 6 9 Ž 0 1 . 0 0 0 3 9 - 5
12 W. Huang r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 11᎐19

Fig. 1. Typical behavior of SMA. Ža. Shape memory effect and Žb. superelasticity.

temperature shapes, is obtainable by special training
Že.g. w5x.. However, the phase transformation strain is
significantly less and their stability and repeatability are
uncertain.
The R phase is an intermediate between austenite
and martensite in some SMAs w6x. Upon cooling NiTi
SMA from a high temperature, the material may trans-
form from austenite to R phase first and then to
martensite upon further cooling. The hysteresis associ-
ated with R phase is normally narrow Ža few degree or
less. and the corresponding phase transformation strain
upon stressing is small Žapprox. 0.2%.. Therefore, it
cannot be used as actuator other than switch.
To date, the work on various SMAs is extensive.
However, for most SMAs, the study is far from com-
plete. In view of this, our discussion in this paper
focuses on the three most popular SMAs, namely, NiTi,
CuZnAl and CuAlNi. Only one-way SMA is con-
sidered. Monocrystalline SMAs may have a better
thermo-mechanical property than polycrystalline mate-
rial. Due to the difficulty in fabrication and the very
high price, they are not presently of much commercial
importance. Hence, only polycrystalline SMA is the
interest of the current study.
Material properties of each SMA are listed in Table
1. They are mainly taken from w3x and w15x.

Table 1
Main properties of typical SMAsa Žmainly taken from w3x and w15x.

NiTi CuZnAl CuAlNi

Specific heat ŽJrKg⬚C. 450᎐620 390᎐400 373᎐574

Thermal conductivity Ž20⬚C. ŽWrmK. 8.6᎐18 84᎐120 30᎐75
Density ŽKgrm3 . 6400᎐6500 7540᎐8000 7100᎐7200
Latent heat ŽJrKg. 19 000᎐32 000 7000᎐9000 7000᎐9000
Electrical resistivity Ž106 ⍀ m. 0.5᎐1.1 0.07᎐0.12 0.1᎐0.14
Thermal expansion coefficient Ž10y6 rK. 6.6᎐11 17 17

Maximum recovery stress ŽMpa. 500᎐900 400᎐700 300᎐600

Normal working stress ŽMpa. 100᎐130 40 70
Fatigue strength ŽNs 106 . ŽMpa. 350 270 350
Maximum Ns1 6᎐8 4᎐6 5᎐6
transformation N - 102 6᎐8 4 4
strain Ž%. N - 105 2᎐4 Ž3.
N - 107 0.5
Normal number of thermal cycles ) 105 ) 104 ) 5 = 103
Young’s Modulus ŽGpa. 28᎐83 70᎐100 80᎐100
Shape memory transformation y200᎐200 y200᎐150 y200᎐200
temperature Ž⬚C.
Hysteresis Ž⬚C. 2᎐50 5᎐20 20᎐40
Maximum overheating temperature Ž⬚C. 400 150 300

Damping capacity ŽSDC%. 15᎐20 30᎐85 10᎐20

Grain size Ž ␮ m. 1᎐100 50᎐150 25᎐100

Melting, casting and composition control Difficult Fair Fair

Forming Žrolling, extrusion. Difficult Easy Difficult
Cold-working Fair Restricted Very difficult
Machinability Difficult Very good Good
Cost ratio 10᎐100 1᎐10 1.5᎐20
a
Additional alloying is not considered.
 W. Huang r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 11᎐19 13

3. SMA actuators

There are three basic types of SMA actuators using

one-way SMAs ŽFig. 2..

䢇 Fig. 2a shows a one-way actuator. The SMA ele-

ment is elongated initially at low temperature and
then is heated up to pull element P to the left;
䢇 Fig. 2b shows a biased actuator, which is capable of
moving the element P back and forth by
heatingrcooling SMA element; and
䢇 Fig. 2c shows a two-way actuator, which includes
two one-way SMA elements. P may move back and
forth by heating and cooling the two SMA elements
alternatively. Fig. 3. A simple linear SMA actuator. Ža. High temperature and Žb.
low temperature.
Basically, SMAs may be heated up by three methods,
i.e.: 4. Material selection

䢇 By passing an electrical current through them. This
method is only applicable to small diameter SMA
wire or spring;
䢇 by passing an electrical current through a high
resistance wire or tape wrapped around SMA. This
method is applicable for bulk SMA; and
䢇 by hot airrwater or exposing to thermal radiation.
The bandwidth of SMA actuators is usually limited.
Cooling speed is the dominating factor. Since small
hysteresis gap requires small temperature variation,
SMA with small hysteresis is preferred by high band-
width application. Heat conduction is important in bulk
SMA. Experiment shows that 6 ms per cycle can be
realized in a switch triggered by 0.1-mm-diameter NiTi
wire under free convection condition in air w7x. For
larger sized SMAs, additional cooling method is re-
quired. Flow liquid can improve the bandwidth drama-
tically w8x. A fan can provide compressive convection
for fast cooling w9x. Other technologies that have been
exploited include semiconductors w10x, mobile heat sink
w11x and pairs of agonistic᎐antagonistic wires w12x.
Actuators offer various performances and operate in
many different ways. In terms of materials selection,
there are always some special goals to meet. They can
normally be presented by means of a performance
index ŽPI., while the properties of materials can be
presented by a variety of charts w13x. It should be
pointed out that not every goal could be represented by
means of a PI, in particular for those related to non-
thermo-mechanical properties. For instance, in biomed-
ical applications, the only candidate is NiTi due to its
excellent biocompatibility w14x, which is lacking of in
other SMAs.
In practice, one should select materials from the
charts according to the particular PI required by a
special application. However, since these charts are not
available yet, we will have to identify the most impor-
tant PIs first, produce the corresponding charts and
then make the choice.

Fig. 2. Basic types of SMA actuators using one-way SMAs. Ža.

One-way actuator, Žb. biased actuator and Žc. two-way actuator. Fig. 4. Transformation temperature vs. hysteresis.
14 W. Huang r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 11᎐19
Fig. 5. Density vs. output volumetric work. Ža. N s 1 and Žb. N s 100.
Fig. 3 shows the principle of a typical linear actuator.
This is the simplest actuator, a weight P hangs at the
bottom of a SMA wire. At a low temperature, P moves
down Fig. 3a. Upon heating, SMA wire contracts and
pulls P up, Fig. 3b. External energy is required only in
the heating process. Despite the simplicity, in terms of
performance, this actuator represents most of the
concerns of SMA actuators. A constant compressive
force or a constant torque may replace weight P in a
real application. One has to realize the effect of
asymmetry in tension and compression in many SMAs.
The detail on how to deal with it is presented later.
Except for Fig. 4, all charts ŽFigs. 5᎐11. are plotted
in logarithmic scale. The values presented are relative
ones as compared with a reference material. Thus as
you can see, both x- and y-axis are without unit. The
properties of the reference material are chosen as the
largest values of all SMAs multiplied by 1.5. For exam-
ple, the largest specific heat is 620 JrKg⬚C ŽNiTi..
Thus, the specific heat of the reference material is
620 = 1.5s 930 JrKg⬚C. We consider three kinds of
applied loads, namely, tension, compression and tor-
sion. The parameters in tension are taken as a refer-
ence. Note that the combination of material properties,
such as specific actuation stress, which is the product of
stress over density, may result in a value over 0.66.
The following items are identified as key points on
selection of SMAs for actuators.
4.1. Transformation temperature and hysteresis
Transformation temperature and hysteresis de-
termine the environment in which a SMA may be used.
They are critical in a real engineering application. Fig.
4 plots the ranges of each SMA based on the values
presented in Table 1. It is apparent that the transfor-
mation temperatures of all three SMAS are close. In
terms of hysteresis, NiTi has the broadest range, while
CuZnAl and CuAlNi do not share any common range.
4.2. Output work
Output work is a key measure of actuators. Within a
given space, high output volumetric work Žs stress =
strain. ²PI-1: indicates the high output work of an
actuator. In the case where lightweight is also impor-
tant, the PI considered should be output volumetric
workrdensity ²PI-2:. Again, high value is preferred.
Refer to output volumetric work-density chart ŽFig. 5.,
the former means that the best choice for output
volumetric work is the one that parallels to x-axis and
lies towards the top since it corresponds to a high
value. For the latter, the one offering the greatest
output volumetric work to density ratio parallels to the
dash-dotted line and lies towards the upper left corner
as it indicates higher value of PI-2. In both one-shot
and 100-shot cases, NiTi is the clear winner. Note, N
stands for the number of cycle or shot.
4.3. Actuation stress and strain
In some applications, one needs high actuation stress.
While in others, high strain, which corresponds to large
displacement, is required. If lightweight actuator is a
goal, instead of actuation stress, specific actuation stress
Žs stressrdensity . should be as high as possible.
When considering actuation stress and strain, one
has to realize the effect of asymmetry in tension and
compression in many SMAs. According to w16x, the
product of phase transformation stress and maximum
 W. Huang r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 11᎐19 15

Fig. 6. Transformation strain vs. actuation stress. Ža. N s 1, tension, Žb. N s 100, tension, Žc. N s 1, compression, Žd. N s 100, compression, Že.
N s 1, torsion and Žf. N s 100, torsion.
16 W. Huang r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 11᎐19

Fig. 7. Transformation strain vs. specific actuation stress. Ža. N s 1, tension, Žb. N s 100, tension, Žc. N s 1, compression, Žd. N s 100,
compression, Že. N s 1, torsion and Žf. N s 100, torsion.
 W. Huang r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 11᎐19
Fig. 8. Heating and cooling speed. Ža. Electrical resistivity vs. minimum input power per Kg and Žb. thermal conductivity vs. minimum input
power per Kg.
phase transformation strain is approximately constant.
Using the scheme proposed in w16x, we can obtain the
actuation stress and transformation strain of a given
stress state. Fig. 6 is the chart showing transformation
strain ²PI-3: y actuation stress ²PI-4: under tension,
compression and torsion, respectively. NiTi is the win-
ner in most cases in terms of either large strain or large
stress. However, CuAlNi could be the first choice in
one-shot, compressive actuator in which large strain is
the main goal while actuation stress is less important.
Fig. 7 is transformation strain-specific actuation stress
²PI-5: chart, which gives similar conclusion, as that of
Fig. 6.
4.4. Heating and cooling speed
SMA actuators are actuated by joule heat. As men-
tioned above, there are three methods to heat up SMA.
Actually, they belong to two types. One is by electrical
current and the other is by heat transfer. The former
depends heavily on electrical resistivity. The latter re-
lates to thermal conductivity.
The minimum input power per Kg for actuation
includes three terms: output work; latent heat; and
thermal energy needed for the increase of temperature
in SMA. Heat transfer is ignored in the fast heating
case. The exact temperature increase required for actu-
ation depends on the set-up of SMA in terms of
pre-strain and stress, hardening in transformation, en-
vironmental temperature and the required actuation
temperature, etc. In the current study, we assume the
required temperature increase is the same as the hys-
teresis width.
If SMA is heated by applying an electrical current,
minimum input power per Kgrelectrical resistivity
17
²PI-6: and minimum input power per Kg= electrical
resistivity ²PI-7: are PIs for input current control and
input voltage control, respectively. Small value corre-
sponds to high speed. In electrical resistivity y
minimum input power per kg chart, Fig. 8a, the former
requires the chosen material located towards the lower
right corner ŽNiTi is the winner., while the latter asks
for the material that lies towards the lower left corner
ŽCuZnAl is chosen followed by CuAlNi..
In heating or cooling by means of heat transfer, the
heatingrcooling speed within SMA depends on ther-
mal conductivity. PI is minimum input power per
Kgrthermal conductivity ²PI-8:. A small value is pre-
ferred for high speed. According to thermal conductiv-
ity y minimum input power per kg chart, Fig. 8b, CuZ-
nAl Žat the lower right corner. is the best.
If low speed actuation is the goal, we should choose
in an inverse way as mentioned above.
4.5. Energy efficiency
It is necessary to know the energy efficiency of an
actuator. In most of the applications, higher energy
efficiency is critical. This is described by output work
per kgrminimum input power per kg ²PI-9:. The ma-
terial corresponding to the greatest value has the best
energy efficiency. Fig. 9 is output work per kgy
minimum input power per kg chart. The winner lies
towards the lower right corner. Both NiTi and CuZnAl
are more or less at the same level with CuAlNi lagging
behind slightly.
4.6. Cost
To be of real commercial interest, cost plays a key
18 W. Huang r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 11᎐19
Fig. 9. Energy efficiency.
role. Output volumetric workrcost ratio ²PI-10: mea-
sures the influence of material cost only. Fig. 10 is cost
ratio-output volumetric work chart for both one-shot
and 100-shot actuators. The winner should lie towards
the upper left corner as it corresponds to low material
cost for the same output work. It indicates that CuZ-
nAl is the best, while NiTi is the least. It is necessary to
point out that processing cost and running cost are
ignored at present. It may be more advantageous to use
NiTi because of reduced voltage requirements due to
much higher resistivity, which results in cheaper equip-
ment in cyclic applications.
Fig. 10. Cost ratio vs. output volumetric work. Ža. N s 1 and Žb. N s 100.
4.7. Damping
High damping capacity is an attractive property of
SMAs. The comparison among different SMAs should
address two aspects: one is damping capacityrcost
²PI-11:; and the other is damping capacityrdensity
²PI-12: or damping capacityrvolume ²PI-13:. The
former is to choose the material at the upper left
corner of cost-damping capacity chart ŽFig. 10a., which
reflects the higher damping capacity at a low cost. For
high damping capacityrdensity ratio, in which
lightweight is critical in the application, the choice is at
the upper left corner of density-damping capacity chart
ŽFig. 10b.. If the application is restrained by space
limitation, high damping capacityrvolume ratio is im-
portant, which is at the upper right corner. It can be
seen that CuZnAl is the best choice for damping in all
aspects.
5. Conclusions
In this paper, a systematic study on the selection of
SMAs for actuators is presented. The candidates of
current study are NiTi, CuZnAl and CuAlNi, which are
the most popular ones at present. More SMAs may be
added in to give a complete picture.
Thirteen performance indices are identified as key
parameters in actuators. The corresponding charts are
produced for the selection of SMAs.
The current study shows that NiTi is the overall
winner with respect to most of the thermo-mechanic
related performances. However, when material cost is
 W. Huang r Materials and Design 23 (2002) 11᎐19
Fig. 11. Damping. Ža. Cost vs. damping capacity and Žb. density vs. damping capacity.
taken into consideration, CuZnAl should be the first
choice, followed by CuAlNi. CuZnAl is the most suit-
able choice for damping-related actuators.
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