Mesoscale simulation of elastocaloric cooling in SMA films

A model for the evolution of the mechanical and thermal properties of shape memory alloy (SMA) films during elastocaloric cycling is developed and compared with experiments. The focus is on Ti-Ni-Cu-Co films of 20 μm thickness showing ultra-low fatigue properties. The films undergo a highly localized pseudoelastic transformation under tensile load cycling featuring strain and temperature band patterns that depend on the loading conditions. The corresponding temperature change is of special interest for film-based elastocaloric cooling applications. Starting from a thermodynamics-based Gibbs free energy model comprising mechanical and chemical contributions, we include a martensite-austenite interface free energy term, for which formulations from a phase-field model are adapted. A 3D continuum mechanics description is modified to treat plane stress conditions appropriate for polycrystalline thin films. The nucleation mechanism of strain bands under dynamic loading is described by introducing a spatial random distribution of the transformation stress barriers reflecting the degree of material inhomogeneity. Heat transfer due to conduction and convection is taken into account. The simulations predict the correlated mechanical and thermal local response of the films including band formation and evolution, tilt angle as well as strain-rate dependence. Macroscopic stress-strain characteristics and thermal evolution curves well represent the experimental results.

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