Helical Domain Patterns in Tube Configurations: Effect of Geometry Length Scales

Abstract

Superelastic NiTi polycrystalline tubes, when subjected to quasi-static stretching, transform from an initial austenite phase to a high-strain martensite phase by the formation and growth of a macroscopic self-organized helical domain as deformation progresses. This paper performed an experimental study on the effects of the externally applied stretching and tube geometry (length L, wall-thickness h and tube radius R) on the martensitic helical domains in the tubes under very slow (isothermal) stretching. The evolution of the helical domains with the applied strain in different tube geometries are quantified by in-situ optical measurement. We demonstrate that the shape of the self-organized helical domain and its evolution are governed by the competition between bending strain energy and domain front energy in minimizing the total energy of the tube system. The former favors a long slim helical domain, while the latter favors a short fat helical domain. The experimental results provide a strong support to the recently developed theoretical relationship.