Structural and functional fatigue of NiTi shape memory alloys

Cyclic loading is one of the generic characteristic features of many of the present and potential future applications of NiTi shape memory alloys, no matter whether they exploit mechanical (pseudo-elasticity) or thermal shape memory (one and two way effect). Cyclic loading may well be associated with structural and functional fatigue, which both limit the service life of shape memory components. By “structural fatigue” we mean the microstructural damage that accumulates during cyclic loading and eventually leads to fatigue failure. There is a need to understand how microstructures can be optimized to provide good fatigue resistance. The term “functional fatigue” indicates that shape memory effects like the working displacement in a one way effect (1WE) actuator or the dissipated energy in a loading–unloading cycle of a pseudo-elastic (PE) damping application decrease with increasing cycle numbers. This is also due to a gradual change in microstructure. In both cases it is important to know how fatigue cycling affects shape memory properties. The present paper considers structural and functional fatigue of NiTi shape memory alloys. It discusses four cases of fatigue in NiTi shape memory alloys: (1) The evolution of the stress–strain hysteresis in low cycle pull–pull fatigue of pseudo-elastic NiTi wires. (2) Bending–rotation fatigue rupture of pseudo-elastic NiTi wires. (3) Strain localization during the stress induced formation of martensite. (4) Generic features of functional fatigue in NiTi shape memory actuator springs. The paper shows that fatigue of shape memory alloys is a fascinating research field and highlights the need for further work in this area.