Actuators Made of Polyethylene and Titanium Nickelide Plates for Transformable Shape Memory Effect Structures

Abstract—The thermomechanical behavior of model samples of transformable metal–polymer structures made of 3-mm-thick polyethylene sheets and 0.6-mm-thick titanium nickelide sheets is studied. Two types of polyethylene, namely, high-density (HDPE) and low-density (LDPE) polyethylene, are considered. LDPE is shown to exhibit better mechanical compatibility with titanium nickelide. This results in higher SME characteristics for LDPE–titanium nickelide actuators compared to HDPE–titanium nickelide ones.