The Design and Specifications of Service Friendly Shape Memory Driven Valve Systems

Shape memory alloys (SMA) can be utilized as electrical activated drives for valve applications. By using the high actuation forces and medium strokes in combination with SMA intrinsic sensor functions, smart and versatile valve elements for multi-purpose applications can be designed. The sensoric functions, based on the change of the electrical characteristics of the SMA drive, allow to detect the system’s condition as well as the system’s fatigue. The paper systematizes the usability of the intrinsic sensor function with particular emphasis on service potentials. The paper focuses the development of a service friendly valve which allows health monitoring over the lifetime as well as failure diagnostics.