Shape memory allow thermally compensating damping system

A damper assembly comprising:

• a housing defining an interior chamber, and extending along a longitudinal axis;
• a rod supported by the housing and at least partially disposed within the interior chamber of the housing;
• a piston assembly attached to the rod within the interior chamber of the housing, and positioned to separate the interior chamber into at least a first fluid chamber and a second fluid chamber, and operable to resist relative movement between the rod and the housing at a damping rate;
• wherein the piston assembly includes an annular plate defining at least one orifice interconnecting the first fluid chamber and the second fluid chamber in fluid communication;
• wherein the piston assembly includes at least one valve disc disposed adjacent a first face of the annular plate for controlling fluid flow through the at least one orifice;
• a shape memory alloy (SMA) device in contact with the at least one valve disc and changeable between a first state and a second state, at a transition temperature, to control a bending stiffness of the at least one valve disc to adjust the damping rate;
• wherein the SMA device includes a plurality of conical disc springs, with each of the plurality of conical disc springs formed from a shape memory alloy material and axially stacked adjacent each other along the longitudinal axis;
• and
• wherein each of the plurality of conical disc springs is actively controlled independent of the other of the plurality of conical disc springs of the SMA device.