High-stress actuators based on Ni-Mn-Ga FSMAs Navy STTR FY2005 Sol No.: Navy STTR FY2005 Topic No.: N05-T012 Topic Title: High-stress actuators based on Ni-Mn-Ga FSMAs Proposal No.: N054-012-0405 Firm: Ferro Solutions, Inc. 215 First Street, Suite 203 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142 Contact: Jiankang Huang Phone: (617) 225-7878 Web Site: www.ferrosi.com Abstract: We propose to exploit the strong foundation in engineering of FMSAs to increase transducer output stress to 100s of MPa while maintaining strain levels of several percent. Two novel, high-authority FSMA-based transducer concepts are proposed to reach the goal. Benefits: There are many applications that require high actuation thrust, including many on aircraft. Hydraulic systems are often used, but maintenance on those systems is costly in terms of down time, and hydraulic lines are vulnerable in the event of local damage to an aircraft. Smart materials, including shape memory alloys, piezoelectric actuators, magnetostrictive materials, and most recently, ferromagnetic shape memory alloys (FSMAs), offer possible solutions for many of these applications. Actuators based on smart materials can be of simpler design than hydraulic systems and are powered and controlled electrically using conductors that are lighter and smaller than hydraulic lines. Return