Influence of high-energy impact actions on the elastic and anelastic properties of martensitic Cu–Al–Ni crystals

The influence of high-energy impact shock-wave loading on the microplasticity and macroscopic performance of the Cu–Al–Ni crystals in the β₁′ martensitic phase has been studied. Elastic and anelastic properties of quenched and aged polyvariant single crystals before and after impact shock-wave loading were measured in the temperature range 80–300 K, at a frequency of about 100 kHz in the strain amplitude-independent and amplitude-dependent ranges by means of the composite oscillator technique, and in the MHz frequency range using the pulse–echo technique. High-velocity impact loading of the specimens was realised by plane shock-waves with stress pulses with a duration of 2·10⁻⁶ s and stress amplitudes up to 5 GPa. A pronounced influence of impact shock-wave loading on the elastic and anelastic properties of the β₁′ martensite has been observed. A strongly marked softening of the material and an enhancement of damping properties are revealed up to the highest stress pulse amplitudes. This behaviour differs fundamentally from the one observed in ‘ordinary’ fcc metals. Changes of the defect structure induced by shock-wave loading, which may be responsible for the observed phenomena, have been discussed.     

Stabilisation of martensite by applying compressive stress in Cu-Al-Ni single crystals

Compression tests have been carried out for a Cu-Al-Ni single crystal at temperatures well above the martensitic transformation, near the transformation or below it (in martensitic state). The composition was selected in order to obtain either β-β′ or β-γ′ thermal martensitic transformations, after suitable thermal treatments. The characteristics of the martensitic transformation and structural changes after the compression tests have been studied by means of calorimetry (DSC) and TEM. The obtained results show that when a compressive stress is applied on quenched samples (TTA treatment, β-β′ thermal transformation) a β-(β′)-γ′ transformation or a β′-γ′ one are stress-induced, depending whether the initial state is the parent or the martensitic phase. For aged samples (TTB treatment, β-γ′ thermal transformation) the application of stress brings about the β-γ′ transformation or γ′ re-orientation, depending on the initial state. In all the cases a notable martensite stabilisation is observed only when the stress–strain loop is not closed, that means when a permanent strain remains in the material after unloading. A direct relationship between the applied deformation when stressing the sample and the degree of stabilisation has been obtained for different strain values (between 5% and 12%) and for each set of samples (TTA and TTB). At the same time, the evolution of the characteristics of the martensitic phases with the degree of deformation has been studied. The stress induced stabilisation mechanism is related to the presence of non-twinned γ′ martensite which makes difficult the retransformation to the parent phase.     

Towards understanding anelasticity of the β1′ martensitic phase of Cu–Al–Ni

The present work continues the series of experimental investigations undertaken in order to elucidate the mechanisms controlling elastic and anelastic properties of the β₁′ martensitic phase of Cu-based shape memory alloys. The paper reports an attempt to distinguish between ‘dislocation’ and ‘interface’ mechanisms of the internal friction in the β₁′ martensitic phase of Cu–Al–Ni single crystals. Two types of experiments have been performed. First, the ultrasonic strain amplitude-independent and amplitude-dependent internal friction (ADIF) of a monovariant specimen for temperatures 90–300 K is carefully re-examined. Second, in situ measurements of the ADIF and of the influence of ultrasonic oscillations on the plastic deformation (acoustoplastic effect) were carried out during quasistatic deformation of a quenched polyvariant specimen. Experimental results support a dislocation rather than an interface mechanism of anelasticity, at least at ultrasonic frequencies and moderate strain amplitudes.     

Structural anelasticity of NiTi during two-stage martensitic transformation

The two-staged thermoelastic martensitic transformation (TMT) B2→R→B19′ in polycrystalline equiatomic NiTi has been studied by means of measurements of strain amplitude-independent and amplitude-dependent internal friction (ADIF), Young’s modulus and amplitude-dependent modulus defects. The internal friction measurements were performed at a frequency of about 100 kHz, rendering negligible the transient internal friction component and allowing one to investigate the structural internal friction, much less dependent on the external parameters such as the heating/cooling rate or the frequency of vibrations. Attention is focussed on the amplitude-dependent anelasticity. Based on the data obtained, the anelasticity is associated with the dislocations inside the martensitic variants, not with the interfaces or interface dislocations, as is traditionally done. The ADIF and anelastic strain in the R phase have been found to be an order of magnitude higher than in the B19′ martensitic phase. This observation is explained by a much higher density of the dislocations inside the variants of the R phase as compared with that of the B19′ phase.     

Multi-stage martensitic transformations induced by repeated thermal cycling of equiatomic TiNi alloy

Usually a multi-stage martensitic transformation is observed in Ni-rich TiNi alloys after heat treatment at 350–500 °C. It is due to the internal stresses created by the Ni₄Ti₃ participate. In the present work it was found that the multi-stage martensitic transformation appeared in Ti–50.0 at.% Ni alloy after thermal cycles through the temperature range of the phase transitions. Annealed sample undergoing one-stage phase transition was subjected to 32 thermal cycles in the DSC apparatus. The results had shown that three-stage forward martensitic transformation observed after 32 thermal cycle was due to the B2 → R, B2 → B19′ and R → B19′ phase transitions. It was found that the B19′ phase obtained from the B2 phase underwent the reverse transformation at higher temperatures than the B19′ phase obtained from the R phase. After annealing the cycled sample at 400 °C the transformation behavior was similar to the non-thermal cycled alloy. It was concluded that the main reason for the multi-stage phase transition induced by the thermal cycles was the phase hardening.     

Cu content and annealing temperature dependence of martensitic transformation of Ti36Ni49−xHf15Cux melt spun ribbons

The martensitic transformation in Ti₃₆Ni_49−xHf₁₅Cu_x (x = 1, 3, 5, 8) ribbons has been investigated. Only B2 to B19′ transformation was detected in all the present ribbons. The martensitic transformation temperatures do not change obviously with increase in the Cu content except that they decrease when the Cu content is 3 at.%. The lattice parameters of B19′ martensite, a and c increase, b almost remains constant, while the monoclinic angle β decreases with increase in the Cu content. For the ribbons with Cu content of 1 and 3 at.%, the martensitic transformation temperatures change slightly when the annealing temperature increases. For the ribbons with Cu content of 5 and 8 at.%, with increase in the annealing temperature, the martensitic transformation temperatures almost do not change and then decrease rapidly when the annealing temperature is higher than 873 K. TEM observation shows that the microstructure of the ribbons with Cu content of 1 and 3 at.% contains the martensite matrix and the (Ti,Hf)₂Ni particles with the size of about 150 nm, which does not change obviously when the annealing temperature increases. This results in that the martensitic transformation temperatures are not sensitive to the annealing temperature in the ribbons with 1 and 3 at.% Cu content. However, nano-scale (Ti,Hf)₂Ni particles precipitate in the ribbons with Cu content of 5 and 8 at.% when the annealing temperature is 773 and 873 K, and then the (Ti,Hf)₂Ni particles grow and coarsen rapidly with further increase in the annealing temperature. The coarsening of the (Ti,Hf)₂Ni particles should be responsible for the dramatic decrease of the martensitic transformation when the annealing temperature is higher than 873 K. For all the present ribbons, the substructure of B19′ martensite is (001) compound twins, and the inter-variant relationship is mainly (011) type I twinning.     

Pre-martensitic phenomena in Ti40.7Hf9.5Ni44.8Cu5 shape memory alloy

Pre-martensitic phenomena such as abnormal resistivity growth, diffusion scattering, “tweed” contrast and internal friction peak were observed in Ti_40.7Hf_9.5Ni_44.8Cu₅ alloy prior to the forward martensitic transformation on cooling. It was shown that all the observed phenomena were due to the formation of quasi-static strain nanodomains in the B2 phase prior to the forward martensitic transformation. This led to accumulation of the elastic energy before the phase transition and resulted in the variation in thermodynamic balance for the forward martensitic transformation and, as a result, influenced the parameters of the phase transition. The appearance of elastic energy prior to the forward transformation caused a decrease in the forward and reverse martensitic transformations' start temperatures, a widening of the temperature range of the reverse transformation and an increase in the hysteresis of the transformation.     

Structure and anelasticity of Fe3Ge alloy

The structure and anelastic properties of Fe-27 at.%Ge alloy are studied. Long-term annealing of the as-cast alloy at 1273 K leads to homogenising and several transformations take place below 873 K. These low temperature transitions are studied by several methods: X-ray diffraction, calorimetry, vibrating-sample magnetometry and internal friction, and are related to magnetic transitions in the different phases. A high stability of the hexagonal (D0₁₉) phase at room temperature is recorded. The hexagonal β (B8₁) phase is also detected in the alloy at room temperature, while the presence of the ′ and phases is doubtful. A broad internal friction relaxation peak with the relaxation strength of Δ = 0.0036, the activation energy of about 1.78 eV and the preexponential relaxation time of τ₀ = 2 × 10⁻¹⁷ s was discovered and classified as the Zener peak in both the and β phases.     

Investigation of the martensitic transformation and the damping behavior of a superelastic Ti–Ta–Nb alloy

In this study the α″ stress-induced martensitic transformation and damping behaviour of the superelastic β-Ti–25Ta–25Nb alloy are investigated by tensile tests at room temperature and by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) in tensile mode for different applied stresses. Tensile tests show a fully non-linear elastic domain and, consequently, a specific method is proposed to determine the elastic modulus. Due to the wide range of temperature over which the martensitic transformation occurs in this class of alloys, the martensitic start temperature, M_s, is not a relevant parameter to characterize the transformation and the temperature M_max corresponding to the temperature of maximum transformation is used. The important gap between these two temperatures explains the fully non-linear elastic behaviour of this alloy during conventional tensile tests. It is observed that two main damping sources occur in this alloy: friction at austenite/martensite interfaces during the martensitic transformation and friction at martensite/martensite interfaces at lower temperature. However, a third unexpected damping peak is also observed at high stress. Its origin is discussed with respect to the orientation of the applied stress and with regard to the most favourably oriented martensite variants determined by Schmid factor analysis.