Shape Memory Alloy Dynamics
Physics: Coupled Electrical / Thermal / Phase Change Dynamics
Software: Custom Matlab / Simulink Code
Audience: Medical device client with $1.4B revenue 2023
Over the course of several years while I worked towards my graduate degrees, I built a coupled electrical/thermal/mechanical model of shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators capable of predicting their performance in medical devices.
The dynamics are handled with a nonlinear Newton-Raphson solver that I wrote using the equations of state, along with a custom adaptive-step time integration scheme.
At our clients’ request I worked closely with Mathworks developers for six months to re-implement the model as a custom Simulink block, enabling effective evaluation of a number of alternative designs and implementations, and supporting the down-selection based on high level design criteria like energy consumption and reliability.
I completed this model in my capacity as an numerical modeling specialist at FPrin LLC, a trusted first-principles based engineering consulting firm specializing in development of breakthrough medical device products. A full whitepaper describing the model implementation can be obtained from their resources page.