SMA Wires Bundles – Mechanical and Electrical Concepts

Abstract:
Commercially available SMA actuated devices usually integrate only a single wire, which dimensions are determined by the force necessary to achieve a desired actuation. Usually, if higher forces are requested, a wire with a bigger diameter is chosen since bigger diameters correspond to higher forces, but, on the other hand, also to a smaller surface-per-volume ratio, which limits system dynamics. The use of bundle of small diameter SMA wires enables to achieve high forces depending on the number of wires in the bundle ensuring a high surfaceper- volume ratio and thus a high bundle reactivity.