Localization events and microstructural evolution in ultra-fine grained NiTi shape memory alloys during thermo-mechanical loading

Abstract

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). © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.