Early Explorations of Shape Memory Alloy Tubular Sealing Geometries and Drop Tower Impact Absorption

Tuesday, May 5, 2026: 1:35 PM
Dr. Jacob L Mingear , Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
Dr. Nick Baumann , Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
Mr. Nam Khalsa , Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
Dr. John D Bernardin , Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
Dr. Amy J. Clarke , Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
Mr. Arshan Aga , Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Prof. Darren J. Hartl , Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Mr. Taresh Guleria , Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Prof. Alaa Elwany , Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Nuclear reactors and nuclear production infrastructure, such as gloveboxes, contain many sealed ports and connections. Further, radioactive waste is typically sealed in an air-tight manner on a regular basis. Shape memory alloy (SMA) sealing devices offer a simpler, faster, and more space-efficient alternative to traditional seals and fasteners. This work explores custom
engineering solutions exploring various tubular sealing geometries created by additive manufacturing or die processes. This work focuses experimental capabilities of the seal including pull-out, pressure, and leak testing. This work is supported by Abaqus modeling using the Lagoudas SMA model.

On a different front, SMAs have the ability to absorb extra mechanical energy due to their hysteresis from their phase transformation. This means that an SMA foam could be an exceptional energy absorbing structure. Recently, an in-house upgraded laboratory drop tower can induce impacts to speeds of 25 m/s. SMA foams were impacted to absorb energy in both the martensitic and austenitic state. The energy absorption of these materials, input-output of g-loads, and transient stress-strain curves are compared to typical material foams.

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