Structural components in shape memory alloy for localized energy dissipation

Cu-based shape memory alloys (SMA) offer their feature of superelastic hysteresis at sustainable costs, and for a window of temperatures applicable to most of civil engineering applications. Structural components can easily be obtained in the form of wires or plates.
Their insertion in standard structures produces devices for local energy dissipation under dynamic loading. Several solutions are experimentally investigated throughout the paper.