The field of multi-stable structures has been steadily growing due to a wide range of potential applications including energy harvesting, MEMS, and mechanical logic. This work focuses on utilizing elastic energy trapping and snap-through phenomena of bistable unit cells to design a latticed, hierarchical multi-stable cylinder that can articulate up to 30 degrees from its center axis. The employment of bistable elements is hypothesized to reduce the total strain energy required to articulate the cylinder, and yield faster responses with the snap-through. While multi-stable cylinders exist in previous studies, there have been no previous attempts at studying different modes of deformation beyond compressive loading. Thus, the current work presents a new problem regarding the effects of bistable elements in a latticed cylinder that is carrying tensile, compressive, and shear loadings and exhibiting large displacements as the cylinder is articulated.. The total strain energy density of the articulating cylinder is investigated as a function of the heights of the unit cells, which aids in determining an ideal height for the design that minimizes the strain energy density. Results show that the strain energy of an articulating cylinder can be minimized with the use of multi-stability, and that a multi-stable cylinder can require up to three times less loads to maintain desired articulation compared to a mono-stable structure. These results will lead to future works on further optimizing the articulating cylinder by varying additional parameters like the individual heights of rows, the thicknesses of unit cell beams, the strain energy density, and the initial loading threshold for articulation. In addition, the work in this study can yield methodologies for designing arbitrarily morphing skins beyond just cylindrical geometries.

The steam sterilization of reusable medical instruments is a critical process. Standardized treatments with hot, saturated steam at maximum temperatures of up to 138 °C often represent a significant thermal load, which is repeated with varying number of cycles depending on the medical device. Until now, there is no possibility for medical device manufacturers to monitor how often a product has been sterilized. However, this is necessary for both safety and warranty issues, since according to the European Medical Device Regulation (EU-MDR), the manufacturer must specify how often a product can be sterilized. In this paper the actuator approach for a micromechanical “sterilization cycle counter” is presented. It is designed to autonomously record, count and store steam sterilizations directly on the instrument by combining silicon micromechanics with shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators. This enables an autonomous operation without additional energy sources such as batteries. During the steam sterilization cycle, a certain temperature limit is exceeded once and detected by the SMA. The system development aims at the heterogeneous integration of standard SMA wires into a silicon microstructure. The transformation temperatures of the SMA is thereby increased to the relevant range by prestressing. In detail, the paper first describes the approach of the counting mechanism and the possibilities and limitations of implementing and pretensioning of SMA wires in silicon microstructures. Based on that, the development of the SMA actuator geometry using an SMA Finite Element Analysis (FEA) model according to the approach of Aurichio is described. The model is validated using an up-scaled test bench of the system, in which various geometric parameters can be varied. Finally, the results will be discussed in particular regarding the MEMS process chain to be carried out in the next step.

Acoustic metamaterials display unusual mechanical wave manipulation behavior not seen in natural materials. In this study, nonlinear metamaterials with passive, amplitude-activated directional bandgaps are investigated. Test articles are constructed by installing periodic arrays of mass-loaded dome resonators on a square polycarbonate substrate. These resonators display nonlinear softening response with increase in excitation amplitude. Experiments conducted by mounting the test articles on low-stiffness boundaries along two adjacent sides and applying mechanical excitations at the opposite corner. A mechanically-staged laser vibrometer mounted overhead was used to make noncontact measurements at discrete plate and resonator locations. Measured displacement transmissibility verify the existence and extent of bandgap frequency ranges as well as amplitude-activated shifts in their bounds. Moreover, by tailoring the pattern of resonators within the array, preferential steering, focusing and selective beaming of waves within tunable frequency ranges depending on their amplitude are shown to be possible. Steady-state spatial maps depicting the displacement transmissibility field were generated from experiments and correlated with simulations to bring out underlying mechanisms. In addition, both lumped parameter and continuum models are considered to aid the design of scalable, passive adaptive metamaterial waveguides for applications ranging from seismic wave mitigation to MEMS transduction.

In this paper, a high performance micro piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) fabricated on stainless substrates is presented. A PZT piezoelectric active layer with a thickness of about 10 μm was deposited on a stainless steel substrate by the aerosol deposition method. The cantilever beam-shaped PEH was then fabricated by metal-MEMS processing of the PZT/stainless steel composite structure. The size of the cantilever PEH transducer developed was about 1 cm 2 and a proof mass was attached to tune its resonant frequency to around 120 Hz for harvesting mechanical vibrations from direct drive AC motors. The PEH transducer showed an output voltage and an output power of 8.9 V p-p and 107.8 μW, respectively, when connected with optimal load and excited under 0.5 g acceleration level. In order to realize the fatigue behavior and reliability of the PEH in field applications, the PEH transducer was driven at its own resonant frequency and tested under 1.0 g acceleration level for millions of cycles and the vibration modes were measured with a laser scanning vibrometer. The PEH transducer had an operating lifetime of about 1.8 million cycles at 1.0 g cyclic loading based on the shift of its resonant frequencies and the decrease in electrical output. The experimental results show the resonant frequencies of the first, second and third modes were all shifted to lower frequencies with increasing operation cycle number due to the development of microcracks in the ceramic PZT active layer. However, the same PEH transducer could survive millions of cycles (in the high millions) at 0.5 g cyclic loading without any significant changes in the resonant frequencies and electrical output. The results confirm the operating limits of the PEH transducer and suggest further protection and reinforcement are required for the transducer to operate at high acceleration loadings.

Electret based energy scavenging devices utilize electro-static induction to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Uses for these devices include harvesting ambient energy in the environment and acting as sensors for a range of applications. These types of devices have been used in MEMS applications for over a decade. However, recently there is an interest in triboelectric generators/harvesters, i.e., electret based harvesters that utilize triboelectrification as well as electrostatic induction. The literature is filled with a variety of designs for the latter devices, constructed from materials ranging from paper and thin films; rendering the generators lightweight, flexible and inexpensive. However, most of the design of these devices is ad-hoc and not based on exploiting the underlying physics that govern their behavior; the few models that exist neglect the coupled electromechanical behavior of the devices. Motivated by the lack of a comprehensive dynamic model of these devices this manuscript presents a generalized framework based on a Lagrangian formulation to derive electromechanical equation for a lumped parameter dynamic model of an electret-based harvester. The framework is robust, capturing the effects of traditional MEMS devices as well as triboelectric generators. Exploiting numerical simulations the predictions are used to examine the behavior of electret based devices for a variety of loading conditions simulating real-world applications such as power scavengers under simple harmonic forcing and in pedestrian walking.

Vanadium oxide (VO 2 ) shows a solid-solid phase transition at around 68 °C where its mechanical and electrical properties start to change dramatically. During the phase transition, the large compressive stress generated by the VO 2 thin film coating could induce a significant frequency shift in the bimorph structures such as clamped-clamped (C-C) beams and clamed-free (C-F) beams. However, for regions outside the phase transition, the stress produced by the thermal expansion coefficient difference between VO 2 and the cantilever or bridge structural material dominates the frequency shift. Therefore, the two ends of the frequency hysteresis curve exhibits a pattern or behavior that can be different than the one shown during the phase transition. It was observed that opposite trends have been found before and after the phase transition region. This phenomena can be explained by the two competing mechanisms present in VO 2 -based MEMS: frequency shift due to thermal coefficient difference between VO 2 and silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) (the materials in the bimorph), and the frequency change induced by the phase transition of VO 2 .

This work presents a fabrication process for the conformal growth of vertically aligned BaTiO 3 films on 3-dimensionally patterned silicon waters. The conformal growth is performed through a two-step hydrothermal reaction that enables the direct growth of piezoelectric films on nonplanar architectures while utilizing relatively low synthesis temperatures. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used to show the controllable conversion of TiO 2 nanowires to BaTiO 3 films and x-ray diffraction (XRD) is used to validate the crystal structures. Tested by a refined piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) method, the conformal films exhibited a piezoelectric coupling coefficient as high as 100 pm/V. With superior piezoelectric properties and the capability to grow on design specific surfaces, the BaTiO 3 conformal films demonstrate high potential for sensors, random access memory, and other micro-electromechanical systems.

In this work we discuss the design and fabrication of NiTi on Pt bimorph cantilever arrays that may be actuated by utilizing the martensite to austenite phase transformation of a sputtered thin film of equiatomic NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA). The cantilever devices were fabricated on a silicon wafer using standard micro fabrication techniques, and may therefore be applicable to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switch or actuator applications. This paper details the development of a co-sputtering process to yield a SMA film with controllable composition of Ni 50 Ti 50 and transformation temperature around 60 °C. Shape memory effects were characterized and verified using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), which demonstrated a martensite-austenite phase change near 60 °C for a co-sputter deposited film onto a Si wafer at 600 °C for in-situ crystallization. We used wafer stress versus temperature measurements as additional confirmation for the repeatable measurement of reversible phase transformation which completed by 80 °C upon heating. Up to 900 MPa completely reversible stress change was available for actuation during the thermally induced phase change. The tightest curling devices were based on a 600 nm NiTi film on 20 nm Pt and were actuated between a 200 μm curl at 25 °C and flat states when heated beyond 70 °C. Using a 532 nm (green), 440 mW laser, we also characterized actuation times of NiTi on Pt cantilever actuators from 4–240 milliseconds using optical intensities ranging from 2–24 W/cm 2 .

In this work, the time and frequency response of VO 2 -based MEMS mirrors are characterized across the transition for individual and simultaneous actuation. First, a step input train of increasing amplitude are applied to the device up to the point of transition is reached. Second, the frequency response is measured by applying a small sinusoidal input, where the displacement remained inside the hysteresis of the VO 2 . The frequency of the input varied from 0.1 to 2000 Hz. The thermal dynamics of the device is found to be the factor limiting the device’s band-width to less than 10 Hz. The average resonant frequency of the present VO 2 -based MEMS mirror was found to be 412.5 Hz for individual actuation. These results allow for the extraction of the necessary parameters to create a model that can be used to design devices with specific dynamic performance.

In this work we discuss the design and fabrication of a cantilever that may be actuated by utilizing the martensite to austenite phase transformation of a sputtered thin film of equiatomic NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA). The cantilever devices were fabricated on a silicon wafer using standard micro fabrication techniques, and may therefore be applicable to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switch or actuator applications. This paper details the development of a co-sputtering process to yield a SMA film with controllable composition of Ni 50 Ti 50 and transformation temperature around 60° C. Shape memory effects were characterized using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), for which we demonstrated martensite-austenite phase change at 57° C for 1–3 um films, annealed at 600° C. We used wafer stress versus temperature measurements as additional confirmation for the repeatable measurement of reversible phase transformation peaking at 73° C upon heating. Up to 62 MPa was available for actuation during the thermally induced phase change. After exploring multiple approaches to a frontside wafer release process, we were successful in patterning and fabricating 10 um wide freestanding Ni 50 Ti 50 cantilevers.

Piezoelectric nanowires (NWs) have recently attracted immense interest due to their excellent electro-mechanical coupling behavior that can efficiently enable conversion of low-intensity mechanical vibrations for powering or augmenting batteries of biomedical devices and portable consumer electronics. Specifically, nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS) composed of piezoelectric NWs offer an exciting potential for energy harvesting applications due to their enhanced flexibility, light weight, and compact size. Compared to the bulk form, high aspect ratio NWs can exhibit higher deformation to produce an enhanced piezoelectric response at a lower stress level. NEMS made of conventional semiconducting vertically aligned, ZnO NW arrays have been investigated thoroughly for energy harvesting; however, ZnO has a lower piezoelectric coupling coefficient as compared to many ferroelectric ceramics which limits its piezoelectric performance. Amidst lead-free ferroelectric materials, environmentally-friendly barium titanate (BaTiO 3 ) possesses one of the highest piezoelectric strain coefficients and thus can enable greater energy transfer when used in vibrational energy harvesters. In this paper, a novel NEMS energy harvester is fabricated using ultra-long (∼40 μm long), vertically aligned BaTiO 3 NW arrays which has a low resonant frequency (below 200 Hz) and its AC power harvesting capacity from low amplitude base vibrations (0.25 g) is demonstrated. The design and fabrication of low resonant frequency vibrational energy harvesters has been challenging in the field of MEMS/NEMS since the high stiffness of the structures results in resonant frequency often greater than 1 kHz. However, ambient mechanical vibrations usually exist in the 1 Hz to 1 kHz range and thus highly complaint ultra-long, NW arrays are beneficial to enable efficient energy conversion. Through the use of this newly developed synthesis process for the growth of highly compliant, ultra-long BaTiO 3 NW arrays, it is shown that piezoelectric NWs based NEMS energy harvesters capable of harnessing this low frequency ambient vibrational energy can be conceived.

The adoption of wireless sensing technology by the structural health monitoring community has shown advantages over traditional cable-based systems, such as convenient sensor installation and lower system cost in many applications. Recently, a new generation of wireless sensing platform, named Martlet, has been collaboratively developed by researchers at the University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, and Michigan Tech. Martlet adopts a Texas Instruments Piccolo microcontroller running up to 90 MHz clock frequency, which enables Martlet to support high-frequency data acquisition and high-speed onboard computation. The extensible design of the Martlet printed circuit boards allows convenient incorporation of various sensor boards. In order to obtain accurate acceleration data and meanwhile reduce the sensor cost, a new Martlet sensor board, named integrated accelerometer wing, is developed. The integrated accelerometer wing adopts a commercial-off-the-shelf MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) accelerometer and contains an onboard signal conditioner performing three basic functions, including mean shifting, anti-aliasing filtering and signal amplification. One distinct feature of the signal conditioner is the on-the-fly programmable cut-off frequency and amplification gain factor. To validate the performance of Martlet and the integrated accelerometer wing, experiments are carried out on a laboratory four-story aluminum shear-frame structure. The laboratory experiment results demonstrate that the performance of the wireless sensing system is comparable to that of cabled reference sensors. In addition, using data collected by wireless sensors, vibration modal properties of the structure are identified and finite element (FE) model updating is performed.

We present several algorithms suited for the generation and analysis of structures used in manufacturing laminate electro-mechanical devices. These devices may be fabricated by a family of related manufacturing processes such as printed-circuit MEMS (PC-MEMS) smart composite microstructures (SCM), or lamina emergent mechanisms (LEM), which, by utilizing multi-material laminate composites, enables kinematic motion, component embedding, and monolithic fabrication of high-precision millimeter-scale features. The presented algorithms enable rapid generation of manufacturing features such as support structures and cut files, while facilitating integration with the user’s design intent and available material removal processes. An exemplar device is presented, which, though simple in concept, could not be manufactured without the aid of an expert designer to produce the same features generated by these algorithms.

The development of self-powered wireless microelectromechanical (MEMS) sensors hinges on the ability to harvest adequate energy from the environment. When solar energy is not available, mechanical energy from ambient vibrations, which are typically low frequency, is of particular interest. Here, higher power levels were approached by better coupling mechanical energy into the harvester, using improved piezoelectric layers, and efficiently extracting energy through the use of low voltage rectifiers. Most of the available research on piezoelectric energy harvesters reports Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 (PZT) or AlN thin films on Si substrates, which are well-utilized for microfabrication. However, to be highly reliable under large vibrations and impacts, flexible passive layers such as metal foil with high fracture strength would be more desirable than brittle Si substrates for MEMS energy harvesting. In addition, metallic substrates readily enable tuning the resonant frequency down by adding proof masses. In order to extract the maximum power from such a device, a high level of (001) film orientation enables an increase in the energy harvesting figures of merit due to the coupling of strong piezoelectricity and low dielectric permittivity. Strongly {001} oriented PZT could be deposited by chemical solution deposition or RF magnetron sputtering and ex situ annealing on (100) oriented LaNiO 3 / HfO 2 / Ni foils. The comparatively high thermal expansion coefficient of the Ni facilitates development of a strong out-of-plane polarization. 31 mode cantilever beam energy harvesters were fabricated using strongly {001} textured 1∼3 μm thick PZT films on Ni foils with dielectric permittivity of ∼ 350 and low loss tangent (<2%) at 100 Hz. The resonance frequency of the cantilevers (50∼75 Hz) was tuned by changing the beam size and proof mass. A cantilever beam with 3 μm thickness of PZT film and 0.4 g proof mass exhibited a maximum output power of 64.5 μW under 1 g acceleration vibration with a 100 kΩ load resistance after poling at 50 V (E C ∼ 16 V) for 10 min at room temperature. Under 0.3g acceleration, the average power of the device is 9 μW at a resonance frequency of ∼70 Hz. Excellent agreement between the measured and modeled data was obtained using a linear analytical model for an energy harvesting system, using an Euler-Bernoulli beam model. It was also demonstrated that up to an order of magnitude more power could be harvested by more efficiently utilizing the available strain using a parabolic mode shape for the vibrating structure. Additionally, voltage rectifying electronics in the form of ZnO thin film transistors are deposited directly on the cantilever. This relieves the role of voltage rectification from the interfacing circuitry and provides a technique improved harvesting relative to solid state diode rectification because the turn-on bias can be reduced to zero.

Vibrational energy harvesting has become relevant as a power source for the reduced power requirement of electronics used in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Vibrational energy harvesters (VEHs) are devices that can convert ambient kinetic energy into electrical energy using three principal transduction mechanisms: piezoelectric, electromagnetic and electrostatic. In this paper, a macroscopic two degree-of-freedom (2Dof) nonlinear energy harvester, which employs velocity amplification to enhance the power scavenged from ambient vibrations, is presented. Velocity amplification is achieved through sequential collisions between free-moving masses, and the final velocity is proportional to the mass ratio and the number of masses. Electromagnetic induction is chosen as the transduction mechanism because it can be readily implemented in a device which uses velocity amplification. The experimental results are presented in Part A of this paper, while in Part B three theoretical models are presented: (1) a coupled model where the two masses of the non-linear oscillator are considered as a coupled harmonic oscillators system; (2) an uncoupled model where the two masses are not linked and collisions between masses can occur; (3) a model that considers both the previous cases. The first two models act as necessary building blocks for the accurate development of the third model. This final model is essential for a better understanding of the dynamics of the 2-Dof device because it can represent the real behaviour of the system and captures the velocity amplification effect which is a key requirement of modelling device of interest in this work. Moreover, this model is essential for a future optimization of geometric and magnetic parameters in order to develop a MEMS scale multi-degree-of-freedom device.

In recent years, the use of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices has led to high performing actuators for various applications, including unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) for defense applications. The incorporation of MEMS technology in this field has resulted in miniaturized UAVs with the capability of carrying out sophisticated reconnaissance and relaying real time information remotely; however, maneuverability of these devices around obstacles is still a challenge. This paper presents the design and fabrication of a functionally modified bimorph actuator with enhanced UAV aerodynamics and maneuverability. The actuator is a metal-based MEMS device consisting of stainless steel, lead zirconate titanate (PZT), and titanium/platinum electrodes. COMSOL analysis was performed to examine optimal device design parameters and is presented in this paper. The design consists of off-axis PZT segments on a bimorph PZT layer which results in bend twist coupling. A detailed description of the fabrication process flow developed based on the optimization of the device design is also given. MEMS processing technology was incorporated to produce a torsional cantilever beam that produces angular and linear displacement for superior UAV maneuverability and its performance is also presented in this paper.

In many applications, the detection of changing gaseous or liquid concentration within an environment is accomplished by monitoring the shift in resonance frequency of a microelectromechanical system designed to adsorb the target analyte. Recently, mass sensing using the onset and crossing of a dynamic bifurcation has been shown to reduce the mass threshold which may be detected. This approach effectively replaces detection of an analog quantity resolved by hardware capability (phase shift or resonant frequency) with a digital quantity having fundamental resolution restricted by system noise (crossing the bifurcation). While promising, successful sensing with oscillators continually excited near a system bifurcation is practically limited in performance by repeatable characteristics close to the critical crossing frequency and the passive detection ability of the sensors has not yet extended to mass quantization over a period of time. In this research, we explore an alternative method to exploit bifurcation for mass sensing by utilizing a new sensor system composed of a small bistable element within a primary linear host sensor that helps alleviate these concerns. The proposed system design provides adjustable control of the rate at which the bifurcation is crossed, helping to tailor the sensitivities of the system encountered in the transition region, introduces new bifurcations to exploit, and lends the opportunity to utilize the numerous bifurcation phenomena sequentially to denote mass accumulation quantity occurring between consecutive jump events. The conceptual underpinnings of the method are presented in detail and example operational trials are demonstrated by simulation to expound its operation and adjustability. Discussion is provided to evaluate the system in terms of existing bifurcation-based mass sensing approaches and to outline remaining goals.

Polymer materials have been proposed to be good candidates for the development of new actuators. Due to their tunable mechanical and electrical properties, they can be used as electro-active devices. In this contribution, we focus on dielectric elastomers based actuators, and word toward establishing innovative and alternative integration/miniaturization processes inspired from microelectronics and MEMS technology. Dielectric elastomer actuators are made of an elastomer dielectric layer sandwiched between two conductive electrodes. Upon voltage application attraction forces between the electrodes generates a mechanical displacement correlated with the elastomer Young modulus and permittivity. Here, we propose to use the polydimethylesiloxane (PDMS) due to its high elasticity and its permittivity made adjustable by addition of ceramic nanoparticles. An original process for structuring PDMS layers is developed to overcome the technological challenges encountered during the integration of such materials in a micro-actuator. In this paper, we present several results of characterization that allowed us to better understand the physicochemical mechanisms involved at different technological steps for both the material alone or mixed with Titanate of Barium (TiO 3 Ba) nanoparticles. We also measured the permittivity and the elasticity modulus of these materials at the end of the manufacturing process thereby verifying the conservation and the enhancement of the initial properties that set our choice. These results are very promising for increasing the electrostatic pressure or to lower the actuation voltage. To make a prediction of permittivity by a mixing rule, we inspect some theories in this aim. Finally, we demonstrate that the actuation response of charged elastomer with TiO 3 Ba nanoparticles follows a hyperelastic behavior. This result is particularly helpful for the design of a micro-actuator in a given application.

Piezoelectric energy harvesters have recently captured a lot of attention in research and technology. They employ the piezoelectric effect, which is the separation of charge within a material as a result of an applied strain, to turn what would otherwise be wasted energy into usable energy. This energy can then be used to support remote sensing systems, batteries, and other types of wireless MEMS devices. Such self powered systems are particularly attractive where hardwiring may not be feasible or numerous battery sources unreasonable. The source of excitation for these systems can include direct actuation, natural or mechanical vibrations, or fluid energy (aerodynamic or hydrodynamic). Fluid based energy harvesting is increasingly pursued due to the ubiquitous nature of the excitation source as well as the strong correlation with other types of excitation. Vortex-induced vibrations as well as vibrations induced by bluff bodies have been investigated to determine potential gains. The shape and size of these bluff bodies has been modeled in order to achieve the maxim power potential of the system. Other studies have focused on aeroelastic fluttering which relies on the natural frequency of two structural modes being achieved through aerodynamic forces. Rather than a single degree of freedom, as seen in the VIV approach, aeroelastic flutter requires two degrees of freedom to induce its vibrational state. This has been modeled through a wing section attached to a cantilevered beam via a revolute joint. To accurately model the behavior of these systems several types of dampening must be considered. Fluid flow excitation introduces the component of dampening via fluid dynamics in addition to structural dampening and electrical dampening from the piezoelectrics themselves. Air flow speed modifies the aerodynamic dampening and it has been shown that at the flutterer boundary the aerodynamic dampening dissipates while the oscillations remain. However, such a system state exhibits a decaying power output due to the shunt dampening effect of the power generation itself. Research in energy harvesting is quickly progressing but much has yet to be discovered. The focus of this paper will be fluid as a source of excitation and the development that has followed thus far. Configurations and applications of previous works will be examined followed by suggestions of new research works to move forward in the field.

Vanadium dioxide (VO 2 )-coated silicon microcantilevers have gained attention due to the large stress produced during VO 2 ’s thermally induced metal-to-insulator phase transition, which produces a curvature change of over ∼2,000 m −1 . Work per volume density is an important figure of merit used to compare the performance of smart materials in micro-actuation. In this paper, the work per volume density of five fully actuated VO 2 -coated microcantilevers was calculated based on experimentally measured force vs. displacement curves obtained from an AFM operated in contact mode. The work per volume density for the five microactuators was found to be similar, which is around ∼1.5×10 4 J/m 3 . The work per volume density of a single microactuator was also obtained under different temperatures across the material’s transition, which exhibits the hysteretic behavior during the heating-cooling cycle.