Applications

Shape memory alloys (SMA) can be used in many areas but amongst those which can be instantly recognizable ones would go as industrial, medicine, optometry, in the engines and many others which I must neglect to write here.

In industry one example is that they are used in aircraft and spacecraft. A variable geometry chevron was developed using Ni-Ti SMA. It has a Variable Area Fan Nozzle (VAFN). In 2005 and 2006 Boeing made a trial and tested it in a flight which was a success.

Scientists are working on the use of SMAs as vibration dampers for launch vehicles and commercial jet engines. SMAs show promise for restraining high vibration that is generated on payloads along with on the fan blades in commercial jet engines. SMAs are also found suitable for other high shock applications.

SMAs are also being used in automotive industry. The first significant usage of SMA in car was a valve that controls low pressure pneumatic bladders in a car seat. The benefits from this usage of SMA was lower noise, lesser weight, lesser power consumption and so on.

In 2014, Chevrolet was the first brand that ever use SMA actuator in the Corvette. SMA actuators, as being a lighter alternative to traditional motorized actuators, made it easier to close the lid since the vent allows the trapped air in the trunk to go out.

SMAs are also suitable for manufacturing anti-shake mobile phone cameras since low-light performance and unsteady videos. The precise usage of the SMA is that SMAs render the possibility of a mechanism called OIS (acronym of “Optical Image Stabilization”) and thanks to this complex mechanism a mobile device can be a rather good camera.