SMA AND DAMPERS IN CIVIL ENG.: LONG TIME GUARANTEED BEHAVIOR AND DIFFUSIONAL PHENOMENA

The use of the hysteresis cycle in SMA as a damper for scarce events as quakes via elements inside the structure seems an interesting approach in Civil Engineering. The dampers will not require maintenance when the physical guarantee of the SMA ensures an appropriate long working life (more than 20 years). The phenomena that produce the evolution of the material is analyzed and the effects of a proper heat treatment are presented. The concept of pseudoelastic window is applied to the Cu-Al-Be alloy to show the possibility of long working time. A sample simulation is presented to show the possibilities of the proposed method.