The need for product design tools in shape memory technology
TL;DR
It was established that information and knowledge of shape memory alloys, SMAs, are either lacking or not available in a form that fulfills the needs of the non-specialist engineering designer.
Abstract
On the basis of the findings in a preliminary study, it was established that information and knowledge of shape memory alloys, SMAs, are either lacking or not available in a form that fulfills the needs of the non-specialist engineering designer. These preliminary findings have been verified in an exploratory study, which contained a literature search in combination with two surveys directed towards national and international researchers and specialists in the SMA field. The results obtained in this study form the central part of a research project with the main objective of developing tools for the design of SMA-based products. The proposal for an efficient and effective product design tool is a knowledge-based engineering system with an integrated design catalogue and a material database for the synthesis activities during the engineering design process. For the analysis activities a finite element system is chosen. For less complex analyses a general mathematics program is proposed.
