Peierls-Nabarro landscape for martensitic phase transitions

Abstract

We consider a prototypical model of a martensitic phase transition, which takes discreteness and nonlocality into account and allows one to reconstruct explicitly the Peierls-Nabarro energy landscape for the phase boundaries. We solve the discrete problem exactly and obtain a simple expression for the critical Peierls force that is necessary to release a lattice-trapped phase boundary. The model suggests specific relations between the microscopic parameters of the lattice and the size of the hysteresis in martensitic materials, which we verify for the cubic-(formula presented)-monoclinic phase transition in Cu-Al-Ni alloy. © 2003 The American Physical Society.