Fundamental Development on Utilizing the R-phase Transformation in NiTi Shape Memory Alloys

Abstract

[eng]In near equiatomic NiTi alloys, the reversible thermoelastic transformation between B2-structured austenite phase and the R-phase is attracting increasing interest for practical applications. However, the following two issues limit the widespread utilization of the R-phase transformation: (1) there is no effective approach to control the R-phase transformation temperatures; (2) it is not easy to largely separate the temperature domain of the R-phase and the B190 martensite phase transformation, especially in the presence of an external force. This article reviews concisely the work of the present authors on solving the above two problems. The effect of grain size on the aging microstructure and related transformation behavior is first discussed. Inspired by these findings, an approach to solve the above two problems has been developed by introducing nanoscaled Ni4Ti3 precipitates in the samples with micronsized grains. The performance of alloys associated with the R-phase transformation, which shows controllable transformation temperatures, is summarized