Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Thermodynamics and Shape Memory Effect in CNT-Epoxy Nanocomposites

Author(s):  
Wei Jian ◽  
Xiaodong Wang ◽  
Haibao Lu ◽  
Denvid Lau
2015 ◽  
Vol 1782 ◽  
pp. 35-40
Author(s):  
Prashanth Srinivasan ◽  
Lucia Nicola ◽  
Barend Thijsse ◽  
Angelo Simone

ABSTRACTShape memory alloys (SMAs) exist in different phases depending on temperature and stress level. Experimental evidence shows that SMAs oscillate between two shapes during thermal cycling. This phenomenon, known as two-way shape-memory effect, occurs due to a transformation between the austenitic phase and the martensitic phase. The two-way shape-memory behavior is studied here by molecular dynamics simulations in NiTi nanowires of different diameter to understand the effect of loading on the size-dependent behavior. Thermal cycling is performed while holding the system at zero stress and at a fixed compressive stress. At zero stress, the martensite structure formed on cooling depends on the wire diameter. However, when cooling is performed at a sufficiently large constant compressive stress, the formation of a single martensitic variant is observed for all diameters.


Polymer ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junghwan Moon ◽  
Joonmyung Choi ◽  
Maenghyo Cho

Author(s):  
Lorenzo La Rosa ◽  
Francesco Maresca

Abstract Ni-Ti is a key shape memory alloy (SMA) system for applications, being cheap and having good mechanical properties. Recently, atomistic simulations of Ni-Ti SMAs have been used with the purpose of revealing the nano-scale mechanisms that control superelasticity and the shape memory effect, which is crucial to guide alloying or processing strategies to improve materials performance. These atomistic simulations are based on molecular dynamics modelling that relies on (empirical) interatomic potentials. These simulations must reproduce accurately the mechanism of martensitic transformation and the microstructure that it originates, since this controls both superelasticity and the shape memory effect. As demonstrated by the energy minimization theory of martensitic transformations [Ball, James (1987) Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis, 100:13], the microstructure of martensite depends on the lattice parameters of the austenite and the martensite phases. Here, we compute the bounds of possible microstructural variations based on the experimental variations/uncertainties in the lattice parameter measurements. We show that both density functional theory and molecular dynamics lattice parameters are typically outside the experimental range, and that seemingly small deviations from this range induce large deviations from the experimental bounds of the microstructural predictions, with notable cases where unphysical microstructures are predicted to form. Therefore, our work points to a strategy for benchmarking and selecting interatomic potentials for atomistic modelling of shape memory alloys, which is crucial to modelling the development of martensitic microstructures and their impact on the shape memory effect.


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