PAMM Proc. Appl. Math. Mech. 15, 311 312 (2015) / DOI 10.1002/pamm.

201510146

Rank-One Convexification Approach for the Modeling of Magnetic

Shape Memory Response
Karsten Buckmann1, , Bjrn Kiefer1 , Thorsten Bartel1 , and Andreas Menzel1,2
1
2

Institute of Mechanics, TU Dortmund, Leonhard-Euler-Str. 5, 44227 Dortmund, Germany

Division of Solid Mechanics, Lund University, PO Box 118, 22100 Lund, Sweden

We present an incremental energy minimization model for magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMAs) whose derivation departs
from the constrained theory of magnetoelasticity [1], but additionally accounts for elastic deformations, magnetization rotation, and dissipative mechanisms. The minimization of the proposed incremental energy yields the evolution of the internal
state variables. In this sense, the presented modeling concept clearly distinguishes itself from standard phenomenological
approaches to MSMA modeling [4]. The extended model is applied to simulate the response of single crystalline Ni2 MnGa.
It is shown to accurately capture the nonlinear, anisotropic, hysteretic, and highly stress level-dependent features of MSMA
behavior, based on just a few fundamental material parameters, which is validated by comparison to experimental data.
c 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Introduction and Motivation

The presented MSMA model builds on the constrained theory of magnetoelasticity [1] suggested by DeSimone and James,
which describes the formation of fine-scale microstructures in magnetostrictive materials in the context of non-convex free
energies. In this framework, the evolution of internal state variables can often be reduced to solutions of a constrained quadratic
minimization problem. Due to the inherent assumptions of the constrained theorywhich are motivated by the desire to
reduce computational effort but also to enforce mathematical properties of the underlying theory that are well understood
not all important response characteristics of MSMAs (e.g. the blocking stress phenomenon and the dissipative nature of twin
boundary motion) are properly captured. The incorporation of an elastic strain energy, a magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy,
and dissipative work terms in an incremental potential significantly improves the predictive accuracy. The formulation of the
modelas well as the algorithmic settingshould allow future implementation into a micromagnetics-inspired finite element
framework, to enable the simulation of single- and polycrystalline samples of any shape under arbitrary loading conditions.

Formulation of the Incremental Minimization Principle

In this contribution, the model equations are specified with an intended application to the simulation of Ni2 MnGa five-layered
modulated (5M) martensite in mind. Also considering the essentially two-dimensional magnetomechanical loading profiles
typically applied in experiments, it is sufficient to consider the presence of two tetragonal martensite phases with the associated
transformation strains tri . Both variants exhibit a preferred direction of magnetization along their respective short c-axis of
the crystallographic unit cell, resulting in two favored magnetization orientations mi per variant. Within the constrained
theory, arbitrary system configurations achievable by the convex combination of undeformed martensite variants (variant
volume fractions i ) equipped with easy axes magnetizations (net magnetization i )the minima (wells) of the associated
non-convex energy landscapeare associated with zero energy.
The first extension to the constrained theory that is deemed necessary, is the introduction of a finite, relaxed elastic strain
energy R1 for the mixture of martensite variants. Here, we particularly make use of a rank-one relaxation approach, which
is associated with a laminate-type microstructure that fulfills crystallographic compatibility w.r.t. total strains at the variant
(twin) interface. These compatibility conditions specifically read hi = 1 1 + 2 2 and 1 2 = [a n]sym , where a is the
strain jump projected onto the interface normal n, which is parametrized using the angle in the two-dimensional case. Our
choice for the elastic strain energy of the phase mixture is
b (hi, a, n, i ) =

2
X
i=1

i bi (hi, a, n, i ) =

2
2
X
X
1
1
el
i el
i (i tri ) : E : (i tri ) .
i : E : i =
2
2
i=1
i=1

(1)

The second extension is the incorporation of a magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy an that builds up due to the rotation
of the variant magnetization away from the preferred easy axes. Four rotation angles i , which are constrained to |i | /2,
P
are used to describe the orientation. Hence the effective magnetization is hmi(j , j , i ) = 4i=1 i (j , j ) mi (i ). The

Corresponding author: e-mail karsten.buckmann@tu-dortmund.de, phone +49 231 755 5603, fax +49 231 755 2688

c 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

312

Section 6: Material modelling in solid mechanics

6.0

6.0

5.0

h11 i [%]

h11 i [%]

5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
0.60 MPa
1.40 MPa
3.00 MPa

1.0
0.0

-1.0

4.0
3.0

0.0

0.0

1.0

0.5

2.0
1.05 MPa
1.75 MPa
3.00 MPa

1.0

-0.5

-1.0

-0.5

0 h2 [T]

0.0

0.5

1.0

0 h2 [T]

(c) computed strain response

(a) experimental strain response

(e) microstructure evolution, cf. (f)

1.0

1.0

1.0

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.0
-0.5

0.60 MPa
1.40 MPa
3.00 MPa

-1.0

hm2 i/ms [-]

hm2 i/ms [-]

hm2 i/ms [-]

0.0
-0.5

1.05 MPa
1.75 MPa
3.00 MPa

-0.5

0.0

1.0

0.5

-1.0

-0.5

0 h2 [T]

-0.5

0.0

0.5

-1.0

1.0

0 h2 [T]

(b) experimental magn. response

-1.0

-1.0
-1.0

0.0

(d) computed magn. response

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

0 h2 [T]

(f) selected loading points, cf. (e)

Fig. 1: Magnetic field-induced variant reorientation in Ni2 MnGa: (a,b) experiments [2], (c,d) simulations, and (e,f) microstructure evolution.

standard ansatz for the anisotropy energy of the phase mixture for uniaxial symmetry and linear magnetization response is
an = b an (j , j , i ) =

4
X
i=1

i (j , j ) bian (i ) =

4
X
i=1

i (j , j )

N
X

Kn sin2n (i ) ,

(2)

n=1

where Kn are the magnetocrystalline anisotropy constants.

The final extension isR the incorporation of dissipative material response. To this end, we introduce the incremental dissipat
d
tive work n+1
= VBs tnn+1 (i , i ) dt with the rate-independent dissipation functional (i , i ) = Y |1 | + Y |2 |, where
the critical driving force for the evolution of martensitic variant reorientation Y itself depends on the volume fractions to
capture hardening behavior. The evolution of all other internal state variables is considered to be purely energetical, such that
d
= VBs Y (1,n+1 ) |1,n+1 1,n | + VBs Y (2,n+1 ) |2,n+1 2,n | .
n+1

(3)

e
The total incremental potential is defined as I(,
h, i , i , i , a, ) and the evolution of the internal state variables is computed
by its minimization, subject to pn+1 = [i , i , i , a, ]tn+1 being admissible, i.e.




1
d
pn+1 = arg min {Ien+1 } = arg min VBs
. (4)
0 hmiD hmi0 hhmi : hi+ R1 + an +n+1
pn+1
pn+1
2

The first three terms are common with the constrained theory. They account for the energy storage in the demagnetization
field, captured by the demagnetization tensor D, and the work done by the externally applied magnetic field h and stress .

Numerical Response Simulations

Fig. 1 compares Ni2 MnGa response simulations under constant compressive stress and cyclic magnetic field loading to experiments [2]. The model clearly predicts the key physical mechanisms that govern the characteristic MSMA behavior, namely
magnetization rotation, martensite variant reorientation for stress levels below the blocking stress, and domain wall motion at
low compressive stresses. The sketches in Figs. 1(e)(f) show the evolution of the laminate-type microstructure at medium
e
stress, wherein the volume fractions and interface orientations have directly been computed by the minimization of I.

Acknowledgements The financial support by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the Research Unit 1509: Ferroic Functional Materials: Multi-Scale Modeling and Experimental Characterization, project P7 (Ki 1392/4-1), is gratefully acknowledged.

References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]

A. DeSimone and R. D. James, J. Mech. Phys. Solids 50, 283320 (2002).

O. Heczko, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 290291, 787794 (2005).
B. Kiefer, K. Buckmann, T. Bartel, and A. Menzel, GAMM-Mitt. 38(1), 171196 (2015).
B. Kiefer and D. C. Lagoudas, J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct. 20(2), 143170 (2009).

c 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

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