Shape Memory Alloys: New Ways of Using Heat for a Technology Advantage
Improve appliance design by using heat generated during normal appliance operation to drive Shape Memory Alloy technology.
Imagine a kitchen oven without external sensors or electronics that could control air temperature, automatically lock the door during high-temperature cleaning cycles, and cut power during overheating while dispensing fire-extinguishing materials. This oven relies on shape memory metals (SMAs) reaching predefined high transition temperatures, changing their shape to perform work, and resetting again when the temperatures cool.
Temperature has been used for many years to accomplish work in appliances with more conventional technologies like bi-metals or wax actuators. Today’s SMAs let you do this with lower cost, less mass, more work output, more cycles, and have an ability to target temperatures of activation more accurately and reliably. These breakthroughs allow new advances in appliances.