Multiscale analysis of the effect of interfacial energy on non-monotonic stress–strain response in shape memory alloys

Abstract

The effect of formation and evolution of stress-induced martensitic microstructures on macroscopic mechanical properties of shape memory alloys in the pseudoelastic regime is investigated with account for size-dependent energy of interfaces. A quantitative relationship is established between the changes in free energy and dissipation on the interfaces at three microstructural scales and the overall mechanical characteristic of the material under tensile loading. The multiscale analysis carried out for a polycrystalline NiTi shape memory alloy has revealed that the interfacial energy storage and dissipation can strongly affect the shape and width of the stress–strain hysteresis loop. The predicted non-monotonic stress–strain response for the material of a selected grain size shows a remarkable similarity to the experimental one extracted from a tensile test of a laminate by Hallai and Kyriakides (2013). By the classical Maxwell construction, the non-monotonic response for a material element results in a commonly observed stress plateau for a tensile specimen, which is associated with the propagation of phase transformation fronts. This behaviour is confirmed with striking accuracy by 3D finite-element computations performed for a macroscopic tensile specimen, in which propagating instability bands are treated explicitly.