Design of an artificial sphincter using shape memory alloys

Abstract

An artificial sphincter using shape memory alloys (SMAs) has already been proposed by the authors [1]. Thermomechanical properties of the artificial sphincter have been evaluated experimentally. The main work of the present paper is to conduct numerical computation using finite element method(FEM) to simulate the thermomechanical behavior of SMA plates used in artificial sphincters, and to investigate the relation between the applied power and thermomechanical responses, for the design purpose.