Dynamic behavior of actuator working on principle of thermoelasticity

Actuators working on the principle of thermoelasticity produce huge forces at very small shifts and may be used as prospective fixing elements in various industrial applications. The paper deals with the mathematical and computer modeling of their dynamic characteristics providing information about the time evolution of various important quantities (temperature rise, displacements, etc.). As the task represents a nonstationary and nonlinear multiply coupled contact problem, its solution is carried out under certain simplifications. The methodology proposed for its solution is illustrated by a typical example whose results are discussed.