Development of a Lightweight, Compact and Energy Efficient Pinch Valve Driven by Shape Memory Alloy Wires
Conference: ACTUATOR 2022 - International Conference and Exhibition on New Actuator Systems and Applications
06/29/2022 - 06/30/2022 at Mannheim
Proceedings: GMM-Fb. 101: ACTUATOR 2022
Pages: 4Language: englishTyp: PDF
Authors:
Scholtes, Dominik (Intelligent Material Systems Lab, Center for Mechatronics and Automation Technology (ZeMA gGmbH), Saarbrücken, Germany)
Goergen, Yannik; Motzki, Paul (Intelligent Material Systems Lab, Center for Mechatronics and Automation Technology (ZeMA gGmbH), Saarbrücken, Germany & Intelligent Material Systems Lab, Department of Systems Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany)
Britz, Rouven (Intelligent Material Systems Lab, Department of Systems Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany)
Abstract:
In this paper, the development process of a shape memory alloy (SMA) driven pinch valve is proposed. The features of SMA actuator wires like small installation space, small weight, and the high energy density, allow for designing compact systems with high force outputs. A functional prototype is presented, allowing for closing forces of up to 250 N and 3 mm of stroke, which enables pinching hoses up to a diameter of 5 mm. It is driven by four mechanically parallel 500 µm diameter wires to open the valve and two 300 µm diameter to close the valve and cut off the medium flow inside of the hose. This SMA driven pinch valve features a spring-loaded toggle mechanism. It leads to stable and energy free position holding in both, opened and closed state of the valve, compared to commonly used valves, which allow for only one energy free position. As the system can be built without using any ferromagnetic materials the valve is predestined to be used in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Due to the higher energy efficiency and weight reduction in comparison to commonly used solenoid pinch valves, they can be a substitute in a variety of applications.