Improved thermodynamic model for magnetic shape memory alloys

Magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMAs) are a class of materials that can exhibit up to 10% recoverable strain as a result of the application of either magnetic field or compressive stress. This unique property makes MSMAs potentially suitable for commercial applications such as sensors, power harvesters, or actuators. Before any commercial applications are fully realized, effective models capable of accurately predicting the magneto-mechanical behavior of MSMAs need to be developed. This paper builds on an existing thermodynamic based constitutive model for MSMAs by accounting for the three-dimensional nature of the demagnetization phenomenon. In particular, the importance of using a demagnetization factor that comes from a solution to the three-dimensional magneto-static boundary value problem is highlighted. Also, the magnetic field present in directions other than that applied because of demagnetization is included in the model. Finally, this work proposes a more flexible means of calibrating thermodynamic based constitutive models for MSMAs.