Seung-Won Kim's
Research Group
in Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)

Shape memory alloy (SMA) is a smart material that changes its crystal structure between the martensite phase and the austenite phase by thermomechanical loading, and exhibits a shape memory effect, a super-elasticity effect, and/or a two-way effect depending on the material composition, manufacturing processes, and working environments. We explore fundamental principle of SMA and investigate characteristics of SMA actuators with various structural design to enhance power, actuation stroke, and efficiency.