Investigation of shape memory alloy honeycombs by means of a micromechanical analysis

Shape memory alloy (SMA) honeycombs are promising new smart materials which may be used for light-weight structures, biomedical implants, actuators and active structures. In this study, the behavior of several SMA honeycomb structures is investigated by means of a continuum-based thermomechanically coupled micromechanical analysis. To this end, macroscopic inelastic stress-strain responses of several topologies are investigated, both for pseudoelasticity and for shape memory effect. It was found that the triangular topology exhibits the best performance. In addition, the initial transformation surfaces are presented for all possible combinations of applied in-plane stresses. A special two-phase microstructure that is capable of producing an overall negative coefficient of thermal expansion is suggested and studied. In this configuration, in which one of the phases is a SMA, residual strains are being generated upon recovery. Here, the negative coefficient of thermal expansion appears to be associated with a larger amount of residual strain upon recovery. Furthermore, a two-dimensional SMA re-entrant topology that generates a negative in-plane Poisson's ratio is analyzed, and the effect of the full thermomechanical coupling is examined. Finally, the response of a particular three-dimensional microstructure is studied.