1 A NON-EXPLOSIVE RELEASE DEVICE FOR AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS USING SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS PEDRO MANUEL CALAS LOPES PACHECO Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica, CEFET/RJ 20.271.110, Rio de Janeiro, RJ - E-Mail: calas@cefet-rj.br MARCELO AMORIM SAVI Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica e de Materiais, Instituto Militar de Engenharia 22.290.270, Rio de Janeiro, RJ - E-Mail: d4savi@epq.ime.eb.br Abstract Aerospace applications use pyrotechnic devices with many different functions. Functional shock, safety, overall system cost issues, and availability of new technologies, however, question the continued use of these mechanisms on aerospace applications. Release device is an important example of a task usually executed by pyrotechnic mechanisms. Many aerospace applications like satellite solar panels deployment or weather balloon separation need a release device. Several incidents, where pyrotechnic mechanisms could be responsible for spacecraft failure, have been encouraging new designs for these devices. The Frangibolt is a non-explosive device which comprises a commercially available bolt and a small collar made of shape memory alloy (SMA) that replace conventional explosive bolt systems. This paper presents the modeling and simulation of Frangibolt. This analysis may contribute to improve the Frangibolt design. Keywords Shape Memory Alloys, Aerospace Applications, Release Device, Frangibolt. 1. INTRODUCTION Aerospace applications use pyrotechnic devices with many different functions. Usually, these devices possess minimum volume/weight, provide instantaneous operation on demand, and require little input energy. Functional shock, safety, overall system cost issues, and availability of new technologies, however, question the continued use of pyrotechnic mechanisms on aerospace applications. Lucy et al. (1996) summarizes results of the NASA survey of non-pyrotechnic alternative mechanisms. A comparison of functional shock characteristics of several devices is shown, and potentially related technology developments are highlighted. Release device is an important example of a task usually executed by pyrotechnic mechanisms. Many aerospace applications like satellite solar panels deployment or weather balloon separation need a release device. Several incidents, where pyrotechnic mechanisms could be responsible for spacecraft failure, have been encouraging new designs for these devices.