Design, processing and characterization of mechanically alloyed galfenol & lightly rare-earth doped FeGa alloys as smart materials for actuators and transducers

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20239605

Smart materials find a wide range of application areas due to their varied response to external stimuli. The different areas of application can be in our day to day life, aerospace, civil engineering applications, and mechatronics to name a few. Magnetostrictive materials are a class of smart materials that can convert energy between the magnetic and elastic states. Galfenol is a magnetostrictive alloy comprised primarily of the elements iron (Fe) and gallium (Ga). Galfenol exhibits a unique combination of mechanical and magnetostrictive (magnetic) properties that legacy smart materials do not. Galfenol's ability to function while in tension, mechanical robustness and high Curie temperature (600 °C) is attracting interest for the alloy's use in mechanically harsh and elevated temperature environments. Applications actively being investigated include transducers for down-hole use, next-generation fuel injectors, sensing, and energy harvesting devices.