Improvement of Actuating Properties of a SMA Coil Spring by Change in Coil Orientation

The present authors have invented a new method of changing coil orientation of a coil spring. The major merit of coil orientation change for SMA are reduction of space and control of two way shape memory effect. For instance, when a coil is heated above Af temperature with a load, the coil contracts. There is unrecovered strain which is attributed to elastic deformation by the load. The elastic strain can be eliminated by changing coil orientation. By removing elastic strain, the necessary space can be reduced. Besides generation and control of two way shape memory effect is presented using the reverse of coil orientation.