Abstract
NiTiCu alloys with Cu-content up to 20 at.% were successfully made into fine wire with cold-drawn area reduction of 70%. These materials were heat treated and tested at different conditions to study phase transformation and constitutive behavior. It is found that: (1) At Cu-content less than 7.5 at.%, increasing Cu stabilizes the B2 austenite, suppresses R-phase, and slightly decreases B19’ transformation temperatures. At higher level, Cu suppresses B19’-phase, but promotes B19 martensitic phase. (2) Increasing Cu decreases thermal temperature hysteresis and lattice strains during phase transformation. (3) The effect of Cu on stress hysteresis depends on test conditions. A continuous increase in Cu does not guarantee a continuously decreased stress hysteresis. (4) Heat treatment affects Ti2(Ni,Cu)3 precipitation. The highest phase transformation temperatures were obtained after annealing at ~ 600 °C. (5) The 102B19 and 120B19 martensite texture comes from the 111B2 austenite texture after phase transformation through {111} and/or {011} martensite twins. These texture patterns explain the relatively short transformation strains and suggest potential for large improvement through processing-induced texture optimization. (6) The combined effects of Cu addition and cold work strengthening largely increase thermal cycling stabilities of NiTiCu alloys and make them promising candidates for actuator applications.
Published Version
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