Implementation of a model taking into account the asymmetry between tension and compression, the temperature effects in a finite element code for shape memory alloys structures calculations

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are good candidates for being used as passive dampers, strain sensors, stiffness or shape drivers. To design these structures, an implementation which takes into account the obvious asymmetry between tension–compression and the thermomechanical coupling taken into account with the introduction of the heat equation is required. We present in this paper an implementation of a phenomenological model based on the RL model (Raniecki and Lexcellent [B. Raniecki, C. Lexcellent, Eur. J. Mech. A/Solids 17 (2) (1998) 185–205]) in a finite element code called COMSOL© which allows to build automatically many loading cases in force or displacement. The results clearly show the influence of the temperature on the pseudoelastic behavior of SMA and on the asymmetry between tension and compression. This implementation could be useful to simulate complex three dimensional SMA structures as dynamical devices.