Martensitic transformation,crystal structure and shape memory effect in Ni55−xMn25Ga20Cox alloys

ABSTRACT

The effect of cobalt addition instead of nickel on the crystal structure, martensitic transformation behaviour and shape memory effect were investigated. Within the analysed range of chemical composition, a single non-modulated martensite was detected at ambient temperature. Cobalt addition modified the lattice parameters and, thus, affected the tetragonality of the martensite unit cell. The hysteresis of martensitic transformation was differently affected by the type of heat treatment applied. For furnace cooled samples, the hysteresis decreased from 50°C to 30°C; in the case of water quenched samples, the hysteresis sharply increased up to 60°C. The shape memory effect, measured as the recoverable strain upon annealing after compression tests, reached a fully recoverable deformation at 10?at.-% of cobalt.

This paper is part of a Thematic Issue on The Crystallographic Aspects of Metallic Alloys.     

Grain size effect on the R-phase transformation of nanocrystalline NiTi shape memory alloys

Development of nanoscale actuators and sensors in recent years calls for functional materials with small dimensions and high strengths. High strength nanocrystalline NiTi alloys which experience the R-phase transformation with a small thermal hysteresis are ideal candidates for these applications. To facilitate the application of the R-phase transformation in nanocrystalline NiTi alloys, this study investigated the effect of grain size on the R-phase transformation of a nanocrystalline Ti-50.2at.%Ni alloy. The nanometric grain size was created by severe cold deformation and low temperature anneal. It was found that in the recrystallized state, achieving nanoscale grain sizes (<100 nm) was effective in suppressing the B2→B19’ martensitic transformation and revealing the B2?R transformation. The B2?R transformation temperature was found to increase with the decreasing grain size within the range of 22–155 nm. The suppression of the B19’ martensite in nanograins is attributed to the limited space within the grains to allow the formation of self-accommodation structures to contain the large lattice distortion of the martensite.     

Effects of Thermally Induced Cyclic γ ↔ ε Transformation on Shape Memory Effect of a Quenched FeMnSiCrNi Alloy

The effects of thermally induced cyclic γ ? ε transformation on microstructures and shape memory effect (SME) are investigated in a quenched Fe14Mn5.5Si8.0Cr5.0Ni alloy. The results show that the annealing at 773 K remarkably improves the SME in the quenched alloy. One thermal cycling between 290 and 773 K remarkably increases the SME, but the further thermal cycling hardly improves the SME. The reason is that the amount of thermal ε martensite remarkably reduces after annealing at 773 K, but it hardly changes with the further increase of thermal cycling between 290 and 773 K. The pre‐existing thermal ε martensite not only prevents the occurrence of stress‐induced ε martensitic transformation but also promotes the formation of α′ martensite.     

Role of strain-induced martensite on microstructural evolution during annealing of metastable austenitic stainless steel

Metastable austenitic stainless steel of type AISI 304L was cold rolled to 90% with and without inter-pass cooling. Inter-pass cooling produced 89% of strain-induced martensite whereas no inter-pass cooling resulted in the formation of 43% of martensite in the austenite matrix. The cold-rolled specimens were annealed at various temperatures in the range of 750–1000 °C. The microstructures of the cold-rolled and annealed specimens were studied by the electron microscope. The grain size and low angle boundaries were determined from the orientation maps recorded by the scanning electron microscope-based electron backscattered diffraction technique. The observed microstructural changes were correlated with the reversion mechanism of martensite to austenite and volume fraction of martensite. It was noted that large volume fractions of martensite at low annealing temperatures, below 900 °C, were most suitable for the formation of fine grains. On the contrary, reversion of small volume fractions of martensite at critical annealing temperature of 950 °C resulted in grain refinement.     

Localization Events and Microstructural Evolution in Ultra‐Fine Grained NiTi Shape Memory Alloys during Thermo‐Mechanical Loading

Subjecting a thin NiTi specimen to uniaxial tension often leads to a localized martensitic transformation: macroscopic transformation bands form and propagate through the specimen, separating it into regions of fully transformed martensite and original austenite. In the present study, the alternating current potential drop (ACPD) technique is used to analyze the change in electrical resistance of ultra‐fine grained NiTi wires subjected to a broad range of thermo‐mechanical load cases: (i) uniaxial tensile straining at constant temperatures (pseudoelastic deformation); (ii) cooling and heating through the transformation range at constant load (actuator load case); (iii) a combination of mechanical and thermal loading. We monitor the ACPD signals in several zones along the gauge length of specimens, and we demonstrate that a localized type of transformation is a generic feature of pseudoelastic as well as of shape memory deformation. Moreover, the ACPD signals allow to differentiate between temperature‐induced martensite (formed during cooling at no or relatively small loads), stress‐induced martensite, and reoriented martensite (formed under load at low temperatures).     

Effect of grain size on the martensitic transformation in NiTi alloy

The effect of grain size on the martensitic transformation in Ni42Ti shape memory alloy has been studied. The kinetics of grain growth has been evaluated and the influence of different grain sizes on the transformation temperatures and the thermodynamic magnitudes has been reported. Image analysis and flow calorimetry techniques have been used. The study shows that grain boundaries favour the martensitic transformation and at the same time obstruct retransformation. Enthalpy and entropy variations are independent of grain size, but elastic energy decreases with the grain size.     

Effect of Initial Annealing Temperature on Microstructural Development and Microhardness in High‐Purity Copper Processed by High‐Pressure Torsion

The effect of the initial annealing temperature on the evolution of microstructure and microhardness in high purity OFHC Cu is investigated after processing by HPT. Disks of Cu are annealed for 1 h at two different annealing temperatures, 400 and 800 °C, and then processed by HPT at room temperature under a pressure of 6.0 GPa for 1/4, 1/2, 1, 5, and 10 turns. Samples are stored for 6 months after HPT processing to examine the self‐annealing effects. Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) measurements are recorded for each disk at three positions: center, mid‐radius, and near edge. Microhardness measurements are also recorded along the diameters of each disk. Both alloys show rapid hardening and then strain softening in the very early stages of straining due to self‐annealing with a clear delay in the onset of softening in the alloy initially annealed at 800 °C. This delay is due to the relatively larger initial grain size compared to the alloy initially annealed at 400 °C. The final microstructures consist of homogeneous fine grains having average sizes of ≈0.28 and ≈0.34 µm for the alloys initially annealed at 400 and 800 °C, respectively. A new model is proposed to describe the behavior of the hardness evolution by HPT in high purity OFHC Cu.     

Tensile properties of iron-based P/M steels with ferrite + martensite microstructure

The effect of intercritical heat treatments on the tensile properties of iron-based P/M steels was investigated. For this purpose, atomized iron powder (Ancorsteel 1000) was admixed with 0.3 wt.% graphite powder. Tensile test specimens were cold pressed at 700 MPa and sintered at 1120 °C for 30 min under pure argon gas atmosphere. After sintering, ∼20% pearlite volume fraction in a ferrite matrix was obtained. To produce coarse ferrite + martensite microstructures, the sintered specimens were intercritically annealed at 724 and 760 °C and quenched in water. To obtain fine ferrite + martensite microstructures, the sintered specimens were first austenitized at 890 °C and water-quenched to produce a fully martensitic structure. These specimens were then intercritically annealed at 724 and 760 °C and re-quenched. After the intercritical annealing at 724 and 760 °C and quenching, martensite volume fractions were ∼ 18% and 43%, respectively, in both the coarse- and fine-grained specimens. Although the intercritically annealed specimens exhibited higher yield and tensile strength than the as-sintered specimens, their elongation values were lower. Specimens with a fine ferrite + martensite microstructure showed high yield and tensile strength and ductility in comparison to specimens with a coarse ferrite + martensite microstructure. The strength values of specimens increased with increasing martensite volume fraction.     

Influence of martensite formation and grain size on room temperature low cycle fatigue behaviour of AISI 304LN austenitic stainless steel

Abstract

The effects of strain induced martensite formation and grain size on the room temperature low cycle fatigue behaviour of AISI 304LN austenitic stainless steel were considered. Two grain sizes, namely, 60 and 350 μm, were developed via suitable solution annealing treatments. Microstructural changes before and after low cycle fatigue testing were identified. The martensitic transformation was studied using aferritescope, X-ray diffractometry, and optical microscopy. The mechanical response was correlated with the microstructural changes. Secondary hardening as well as a crossover in the strain–life plots for the two grain sizes resulted from martensite formation. Dislocation configurations depended on the strains imposed.

MST/1902     

Self-accommodated and pre-strained martensitic microstructure in single-crystalline,metamagnetic Ni–Mn–Sn Heusler alloy

Metamagnetic shape memory alloys are a unique class of materials capable of large magnetic field-induced strain due to reverse martensitic phase transformation. A precondition for large shape change is martensite deformation, which heavily depends on microstructure. Elucidation of microstructure is therefore indispensable for strain control and deformation mechanics in such systems. The current paper reports on a self-accommodated martensitic microstructure in metamagnetic Ni₅₀Mn_37.5Sn_12.5 single crystal. The microstructure here is hierarchically organised at three distinct levels. On a large scale, martensite plate colonies, distinguished by intercolony boundaries, group individual martensitic plates. Plates are separated by interplate boundaries and deviate by 2.2° from an ideal twin relation. On the lower scale, plates are composed of subplate twins. Conjugation boundaries separating two pairs of twins arise in relation to a subplate microstructure. Modulation boundaries separating two variants with perpendicular modulation directions and with parallel c-axes also appear. Mechanical training frees larger plates from fine subplate microtwins bringing macro-lamellae into twin relation, what then permits further detwinning until a single variant state.     

Improvement of mechanical properties in a dual-phase ferrite–martensite AISI4140 steel under tough-strong ferrite formation

This paper has been concerned to investigate in details the mechanical properties of AISI4140 heat treatable steel under ferrite–martensite dual-phase (DP) microstructures in conjunction with that of conventional quench-tempered (CQT) full martensitic condition. For this purpose, a wide variety of ferrite–martensite DP samples containing different volume fractions of ferrite and martensite microphases have been developed using step quenching heat treatment processes at 600 °C for 20–55 s holding times with the subsequent hot oil quenching after being austenitized at 860 °C for 60 min in the same situation as to the CQT condition. The finalized tempering heat treatment has been carried out at 600 °C for 30 min for both of direct quenched full martensitic and DP samples in order to optimize the strength–ductility combination. Light and electron microscopes have been used in conjunction with mechanical tests to assess the structure–property relationships in the DP and CQT heat treated samples. The experimental results indicate that the DP microstructures consisting about 7% volume fraction of fine grain boundary ferrite in the vicinity of martensite are associated with excellent mechanical properties in comparison to that of CQT condition. These observations are rationalized in terms of higher carbon concentration of the remaining metastable austenite leading to the harder martensite formation on the subsequent hot oil quenching, and so developing much harder ferrite grains as a consequence of more constraints induced in the ferrite grains during martensitic phase transformation in the remaining austenite adjacent to the ferrite area. The higher martensite volume fraction in the vicinity of thin continuous grain boundary ferrite network has been associated with the harder ferrite formation, causing higher work hardening behavior in the short time treated DP samples. Moreover, it has been found that in order to optimize the mechanical properties of ferrite–martensite DP samples, two independently parameters should be simultaneously controlled: one is the ferrite volume fraction and the other is ferrite morphology.     

TiNi记忆合金的马氏体相变与形状记忆效应

对近些年来有关ＴｉＮｉ记忆合金中马氏相变和形状记忆效应的最新研究成果进行综合评述。主要内容包括马氏体的形成，相变晶体学和变体自协作以及变形行为和形状记忆效应。     

Acoustic emission monitoring of bainitic and martensitic transformation in medium carbon steel during continuous cooling

Abstract

This paper concerns acoustic emission (AE) measurements during continuous cooling of steel C45 using a Gleeble 1500 thermomechanical simulator. After austenising at a certain temperature, the studied specimen was cooled down and the root mean square (RMS) value of the continuous AE signal was measured. During cooling two distinct peaks in the RMS data were observed at temperatures of 200-300°C and 500-600°C, which have been attributed to martensite and bainite formation respectively. The observed bainite peak strongly indicated that the mechanism of bainite growth is displacive. The AE monitoring of bainite and martensite formation was supported by dilatation measurements, which were performed simultaneously. The effect of the austenite grain size on the evolution of the bainitic and martensitic transformation was studied by varying the austenising temperature T _a. It was found that upon lowering T _a, i.e. with decreasing austenite grain size, the bainite peak increases while the martensite peak decreases.     

Crystallographic texture evolution and martensite transformation in the strain hardening process of a ferrite-based low density steel

The strain-induced martensite transformation is of great importance in the strain hardening process of ferrite based low-density steel.Based on the microstructure analysis,the texture evolution and martensite transformation behavior in the strain hardening process were studied.The results show that martensite transformation accompanied by TWIP effect and high density dislocations maintains the con-tinuous hardening stage.As the strain increases,the texture of retained austenite evolves towards the F orientation{111}〈112〉,which is not conducive to martensite transformation.After the strain of 5％,the number of austenite grains with high Schmid factor orientations is gradually increased,and then signif-icantly reduced when the strain is over 10％due to the occurrence of martensitic transformation,which results in a high martensitic transformation rate.However,the unfavorable orientation and the reduced grain size of austenite slow down the martensite transformation at the final hardening stage.Moreover,because of the coordination deformation of austenite grains,strain preferentially spreads between adja-cent austenite grains.Consequently,the martensite transformation rate in strain hardening process is dependent on the orientation and grain size evolution of austenite,leading to a differential contribution to each strain hardening stage.     

The role of grain size in static and cyclic deformation behaviour of a laser reversion annealed metastable austenitic steel

Different grain sizes were created in a metastable 17Cr‐7Mn‐7Ni steel by martensite‐to‐austenite reversion at different temperatures using a laser beam. Two fully reverted material states obtained at 990°C and 780°C exhibited average grain sizes of 7.7 and 2.7 μm, respectively. The third microstructure (610°C) consisted of grains at different stages of recrystallization and deformed austenite. A hot‐pressed, coarse‐grained counterpart was studied for reference. The yield and tensile strengths increased with refined grain size, maintaining reasonable elongation except for the heterogeneous microstructure. Total strain‐controlled fatigue tests revealed increasing initial stress amplitudes but decreasing cyclic hardening and fatigue‐induced α′‐martensite formation with decreasing grain size. Fatigue life was slightly improved for the 2.7‐μm grain size. Contrary, the heterogeneous microstructure yielded an inferior lifetime, especially at high strain amplitudes. Examinations of the cyclically deformed microstructure showed that the characteristic deformation band structure was less pronounced in refined grains.     

Ni24.7Ti50.3Pd25.0 high temperature shape memory alloy with narrow thermal hysteresis and high thermal stability

High temperature shape memory alloys with operating temperatures above 100 °C are in demand for use as solid-state thermal actuators in aerospace, automobile and other engineering applications. The present study deals with transformation behaviour and thermal stability of Ni_24.7Ti_50.3Pd_25.0 (at.%) high temperature shape memory alloy, in cast and homogenized condition. The martensite finish temperature and transformation hysteresis of the alloy were determined to be 181.0 °C and ∼8.5 °C respectively. The alloy showed high stability upon stress-free thermal cycling, variation in transformation temperatures being ±1 °C. The narrow thermal hysteresis and high thermal stability of the alloy upon transformation cycling has been discussed and correlated with its microstructural features, activation energy and elastic strain energy of thermoelastic martensitic transformation. The alloy exhibited modulus of ∼82 GPa and hardness of ∼4.7 GPa in martensite phase.     

High‐Temperature Shape Memory Effect in Ti‐Ta Thin Films Sputter Deposited at Room Temperature

Ti‐Ta based alloys are potential high‐temperature shape memory materials with operation temperatures above 100 °C. In this study, the room temperature fabrication of Ti‐Ta thin films showing a reversible martensitic transformation and a high temperature shape memory effect above 200 °C is reported. In contrast to other shape memory thin films, no further heat treatment is necessary to obtain the functional properties. A disordered α″ martensite (orthorhombic) phase is formed in the as‐deposited co‐sputtered Ti₇₀Ta₃₀, Ti₆₈Ta₃₂ and Ti₆₇Ta₃₃ films, independent of the substrate. A Ti₇₀Ta₃₀ free‐standing film shows a reversible martensitic transformation, as confirmed by temperature–dependent XRD measurements during thermal cycling between 125 °C to 275 °C. Furthermore, a one‐way shape memory effect is qualitatively confirmed in this film. The observed properties of the Ti‐Ta thin films make them promising for applications on polymer substrates and especially in microsystem technologies.     

Fractal analysis of martensite in an Fe-Ni alloy

In general, microstructures can be described by microstructural parameters such as grain size or particle spacing, e.g. an average value can be obtained by quantitative metallography. In some cases these methods of classical quantitative metallography fail. For example, martensitic microstructures may appear highly disordered at the transition to microstructural chaos. They cannot be described by any average crystal size or particle spacing. A new approach has been applied to characterize a martensitic microstructure of an Fe-Ni alloy by fractal analysis. This includes the amount of martensite as well as the size spectra of martensite crystals and the distribution of residual austenite. In addition, the interface length martensite/austenite and the interface density were determined.     

Influence of heat treatments on microstructural parameters and mechanical properties of P92 steel

Abstract

The microstructural parameters (dislocation density, martensite lath width, precipitate diameters, and volume fractions) have been measured for the 9%Cr steel P92 (NF616) after different heat treatments. The austenitising temperatures were 970, 1070, and 1145°C and the tempering temperatures 715, 775, and 835°C. Increasing the austenitising temperature led to an increase in the austenite grain size and in the martensite lath width, but no significant effect on the tensile properties at 20, 600, and 650°C was observed. The creep strength was, however, reduced by tempering at 835°C due to rapid recovery of the martensitic structure with a sharp decrease in dislocation density. The lowest creep strength was found for the P92 steel subjected to a heat treatment that produced a fully ferritic microstructure; the secondary creep rate was four orders of magnitude higher than that of the steel in the usual martensitic condition.     

A Review on the Regulation of Magnetic Transitions and the Related Magnetocaloric Properties in Ni-Mn-Co-Sn Alloys

In Ni-Mn-X(X=In,Sn,Sb) ferromagnetic shape memory alloys,a ferromagnetic transition from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic austenite and a martensitic transformation from ferromagnetic austenite to weak magnetic martensite occur in some particular composition ranges,in which abundant physical properties have been observed by the abrupt change of magnetization and resistivity around their transition temperatures in these alloys.Therefore,tuning the martensitic transformation temperature(TM) and enlarging the workingtemperature interval for Ni-Mn-X(X=In,Sn,Sb) alloys,are of great importance.In the present paper,we will focus on the effect of external factors,including pre-deformation,annealing,and high pressure annealing,on the magnetic transitions and the related magnetocaloric properties in Ni-Mn-Co-Sn ferromagnetic shape memory alloys.Our approaches and the main results in this particular field will be reviewed.