An Elastocaloric Air Cooler with Low-Force Bending Actuation

Elastocaloric cooling has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional vapor-compression refrigeration. Attempts to develop elastocaloric devices have been made in recent years, with substantial achievements in realizing large temperature span and high coefficient of performance (COP). Moreover, miniaturization of these devices will be highly beneficial in commercializing the elastocaloric cooling. In this work, the authors report a bending approach to induce the phase transformation of NiTi sheet with advantages of low force actuation and high temperature change, while performances of elastocaloric air cooler based on the bending mode are demonstrated and analyzed.