Plane Strain Sliding Contact Between a Rigid Cylinder and a Pseudoelastic Shape Memory Alloy Half-Space

This study uses the finite element method to analyze the sliding contact behavior between a rigid cylinder and a shape memory alloy (SMA) semi-infinite half-space. An experimentally validated constitutive model is used to capture the pseudoelastic effect exhibited by these alloys. Parametric studies involving the maximum recoverable transformation strain and the transformation temperatures are performed to analyze the effects that these parameters have on the stress fields during indentation and sliding contact. It is shown that, depending on the amount of recoverable transformation strain possessed by the alloy, a reduction of almost 40 % of the maximum stress in the pseudoelastic half-space is achieved when compared to the maximum stress in a purely elastic half-space. The studies also reveal that the sliding response is strongly temperature dependent, with significant residual stress present in the half-space at temperatures below the austenitic finish temperature.