Abstract
Recovery stresses generated by neat shape memory wires under different constraint conditions have been studied in detail. The thermomechanical conditions applied in the experiments were very close to the biasing conditions in polymer composites with embedded shape memory wires. The parameters of the present experiments were the predeformation of the shape memory wires and two other parameters related to the effect of thermal expansion and the stiffness of matrix materials. The influence of these parameters on the course of the generated recovery stresses has been examined. The results are helpful for understanding the functional behavior of composites with embedded shape memory wires and/or some other shape memory applications with the type of constraint analyzed in this paper.