This paper deals with the fatigue behaviour of NiTiCu shape memory alloy (SMA) wire
actuators on thermo-mechanical cycling (TMC). Cyclic loading in SMA actuators is invariably
associated with both functional and structural fatigue. The characteristic of the actuators such as
austenite (hot shape) remnant deformation and recovery strain undergo changes upon TMC. These
in turn result in continuous change in strain response (functional fatigue) during application. It has
been shown that the functional fatigue can be minimized by adopting TMC at higher stress than that
of the working stress prior to the application. On the other hand, failure of the actuators by fracture
(structural fatigue) due to cyclic stress/strain is inevitable. Study shows that the fatigue life of the
actuators is strongly dependent on the type of loading and the temperature range of operation. This
has been explained in terms of damage accumulation, crack initiation and fracture behaviour.
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