{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31196"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31196","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The VT1 Shape Memory Alloy Heat Engine Design","abstract":"The invention of shape memory alloys spurred a period of intense interest in the area of heat engines in the late 70's and early 80's. It was believed that these engines could use heat from low temperature sources such as solar heated water, geothermal hot water and rejected heat from conventional engines as a significant source of power. The interest has since dwindled, largely because small prototype devices developed in the laboratory could not be scaled up to produce significant power. It is believed that the scaled-up designs failed because they were dependent on friction as the driving mechanism, which led to large energy losses and slip. This thesis proposes a new chain and sprocket driving mechanism that is independent of friction and should therefore allow for large-scale power generation. This thesis begins by presenting properties and applications of shape memory alloys. The proposed design is then described in detail, followed by a review of the evolution that led to the final design. A brief chapter on thermodynamic modeling and a summary chapter suggesting improvements on the current design follow.","abstract_html":"The invention of shape memory alloys spurred a period of intense interest in the area of heat engines in the late 70's and early 80's. It was believed that these engines could use heat from low temperature sources such as solar heated water, geothermal hot water and rejected heat from conventional engines as a significant source of power. The interest has since dwindled, largely because small prototype devices developed in the laboratory could not be scaled up to produce significant power. It is believed that the scaled-up designs failed because they were dependent on friction as the driving mechanism, which led to large energy losses and slip. This thesis proposes a new chain and sprocket driving mechanism that is independent of friction and should therefore allow for large-scale power generation. This thesis begins by presenting properties and applications of shape memory alloys. The proposed design is then described in detail, followed by a review of the evolution that led to the final design. A brief chapter on thermodynamic modeling and a summary chapter suggesting improvements on the current design follow.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Wakjira, Jillcha Fekadu"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Mechanical Engineering","degree_department":"Mechanical Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Reinholtz, Charles F."],"committee_members":["Saunders, William R.","Leo, Donald J."],"year":2001,"date_issued":"2001-01-29","date_published":"2001-01-29","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:05Z","subjects":["Intelligent Material","Heat Engine","Shape Memory Alloy"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-02102001-172947"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-02102001-172947","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31196","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Reinholtz, Charles F."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Saunders, William R.","Leo, Donald J."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Wakjira, Jillcha Fekadu"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:31:41Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:31:41Z","2002-03-08"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2001-01-29"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Intelligent Material","Heat Engine","Shape Memory Alloy"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-02102001-172947"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31196"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The invention of shape memory alloys spurred a period of intense interest in the area of heat engines in the late 70's and early 80's. It was believed that these engines could use heat from low temperature sources such as solar heated water, geothermal hot water and rejected heat from conventional engines as a significant source of power. The interest has since dwindled, largely because small prototype devices developed in the laboratory could not be scaled up to produce significant power. It is believed that the scaled-up designs failed because they were dependent on friction as the driving mechanism, which led to large energy losses and slip. This thesis proposes a new chain and sprocket driving mechanism that is independent of friction and should therefore allow for large-scale power generation. This thesis begins by presenting properties and applications of shape memory alloys. The proposed design is then described in detail, followed by a review of the evolution that led to the final design. 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