Pseudoelastic NiTi-based shape-memory alloys (SMAs) have recently received attention as candidate materials for solid-state refrigeration. The elastocaloric effect in SMAs exploits stress-induced martensitic transformation, which is associated with large latent heat. Most importantly, cyclic mechanical loading/unloading provides large adiabatic temperature drops exceeding 25 K at high process efficiencies. This article summarizes the underlying principles, important material parameters and process requirements, and reviews recent progress in the development of pseudoelastic SMAs with large coefficients of performance, as well as very good functional fatigue resistance. The application potential of SMA film and bulk materials is demonstrated for the case of cyclic tensile loading/unloading in prototypes ranging from miniature-scale devices to large-scale cooling units.

The paper extends the authors' recent model for one-dimensional rate-dependent magneto-mechanical behavior of NiMnGa single crystals to account for temperature-dependent effects including austenite/martensite and ferro-/paramagnetic phase transitions. The magneto-mechanical model is based on the Helmholtz free energy landscape constructed for a meso-scale lattice element with strain and magnetization as order parameters. This two-dimensional energy landscape includes three paraboloidal wells representing the two easy-axis and one hard-axis martensite variants relevant for the structurally one-dimensional case. Phase transformations resulting from applied stresses and magnetic fields follow from a system of evolution laws based on the Gibbs free energy equations and the theory of thermally activated processes, which in the low-thermal-activation limit appropriately reproduce the athermal transformation behavior observed in these materials. The phase fractions subsequently determine the macroscopic strain and magnetization of a sample of NiMnGa by means of a standard averaging procedure. To account for the first-order phase transitions to austenite, additional temperature-dependent wells representing the stable states of austenitic NiMnGa are introduced into the Helmholtz energy landscape. The transition from ferromagnetic to paramagnetic states is modeled as a second order transformation based on the gradual degeneration of the ferromagnetic wells with increasing temperature.

The paper presents a free energy model for the pseudoelastic behavior of shape memory alloys. It is based on a stochastic homogenization process, which uses distributions in energy barriers and internal stresses to represent effects typically encountered in polycrystalline materials. This concept leads to a realistic desription of the rate-dependent inner loop behavior, but is characterized by rather long computation times. This is prohibitive in regard to a potential implementation into other numerical codes, such as finite element or optimal control programs or a Matlab/Simulink environment. For this purpose a parameterization method is introduced, which is derived from the concept of a representative single crystal. The approach preserves the desirable properties of the original formulation, at the same time reducing the numerical effort significantly. Finally, we show that the method can reproduce the experimentally observed behavior accurately over a large range of strain rates including the minor loop behavior.

The rate-dependence of piezoelectric materials resulting from the kinetics of domain switching is an important factor that needs to be included in realistic modeling attempts. This paper provides a systematic study of the rate-dependent hysteresis behavior of a commercially available PZT stack actuator. Experiments covering full as well as minor loops are conducted at different loading rates with polarization and strain recorded. In addition, the creep behavior at different constant levels of the electric field is observed. This provides evidence of kinetics being characterized by strongly varying relaxation times that can be associated with different switching mechanisms.

The one-dimensional free energy model for ferroelectric materials developed in [1-3] is general-ized to two dimensions. The proposed two-dimensional energy potential consists of four energy wells corresponding to four variants of the material, four saddle points representing the barriers for 900 switching processes, and a local energy maximum across which 1800-switching processes take place. The free energy potential is combined with the evolution equations based on the theory of thermally activated processes. The prediction of the model is compared with the recent measurements on a Ba- TiO3 single crystalline ferroelectric in [4]. The responses of the model at various loading frequencies are calculated and the kinetics of 900 and 1800 switching processes are discussed.

This paper addresses the development of an energy-based characterization framework which quantifies stress-induced dipole switching in ferroelectric materials. Helmholtz and Gibbs energy relations that accommodate 90° and 180° dipole orientations as equilibrium states are constructed at the lattice level. For regimes in which thermal relaxation mech- anisms are negligible, minimization of the Gibbs relations provides local polarization and strain relations. Alternatively, behavior such as creep or thermal relaxation can be incorpo- rated by balancing Gibbs and relative thermal energies through Boltzmann principles. In the nal step of the development, stochastic homogenization techniques based on the assump- tion that parameters such as coercive and induced elds are manifestations of underlying distributions are employed to construct macroscopic models suitable for nonhomogeneous polycrystalline compounds. Attributes and limitations of the model are illustrated through comparison with experimental PLZT data.

This paper provides a unified modeling framework for ferroelectric, ferromagnetic and ferroelastic materials operating in hysteretic and nonlinear regimes. Whereas the physical mechanisms which produce hysteresis and constitutive nonlinearities in these materials differ at the microscopic level, shared energy relations can be derived at the lattice, or mesoscopic, scale. This yields a class of models which are appropriate for homogeneous, single crystal compounds. Stochastic homogenization techniques are then employed to construct macroscopic models suitable for nonhomogeneous, polycrystalline compounds with variable effective fields or stresses. This unified methodology for quantifying hysteresis and constitutive nonlinearities for a broad class of ferroic compounds facilitates both material characterization and subsequent model-based control design. Attributes of the models are illustrated through comparison with piezoceramic, magnetostrictive and thin film SMA data.