Thermoelastic Martensitic Transitions and Shape Memory Effects: Classification, Crystal and Structural Mechanisms of Transformations, Properties, Production and Application of Promising Alloys

Abstract

In the article there is presented a brief overview of combined systematic investigations of the alloys exhibiting thermoelastic martensitic transformations (TMTs). As is known, such alloys are distinguished by a whole number of specific one-and multi-fold-reversibility shape-memory (SM) effects occurring upon changing temperature, pressure, magnetic field, at the background of superplasticity and highly reversible deformation of transformation under a load or its relieving.There have been considered the alloys classification, the thermodynamical and kinetic aspects of TMTs, the origin and structural mechanisms of realization of multivarious pre-transition phenomena and TMTs proper, the influence of complex alloying, the peculiar features of a structure, the physico-mechanical properties and methods of production of the alloys most promising from the viewpoint of application. For this purpose there were employed structural methods of the X-ray diffraction (XRD) structure-phase analysis, neutron diffraction analysis, transmission and scanning electron microscopy techniques of high resolution, together with studying texture and atomic composition, as well as measuring a number of physical properties and SM-effect characteristics.The effect of the alloying and external actions of different origin on the magnetic and structural phase transformations and properties of the studied alloys with the magnetically, thermally, and mechanically controlled manifestations of the shape memory is discussed. A sequence of the TMTs with the formation of different martensitic phases, as well as the crystallographic structure and crystal-geometry specific features of the formation of these phases is described. The phase diagrams of the magnetic and martensitic transformations in a number of binary, ternary, and quaternary alloys synthesized via different schemes of alloying are presented.On the example of the binary and doped alloys TiNi it has been shown that an employment of thermo-mechanical treatments of the alloys via multiple or repeated torsion under pressure, rolling or drawing leads to their high-level strengthening and grain refinement (up to amorphization). In this case the use of low-temperature annealing provides for both the creation in the alloys of the homogeneous nanostructured state with a controllable grain size already in the interval of 50–200 nm and efficient regulation of physico-mechanical properties with retaining comparably high values of the parameters of SM, including deformation-, temperature-, and force-related.There has been revealed the effect of the grain size on the critical temperatures of TMTs and, as a consequence, on the TMT-stipulated SMEs. On this basement, in dependence of the grain size, the poly-packet, mono-packet twinned or single-crystal structures of martensite can be realized.There are discussed an experimentally revealed deformation-induced atomic disordering in Heusler alloys with self-forming a nanocrystalline fcc (A1) structure and amorphization in the alloys of titanium nickelide, as well as long-range order recovery in them taking place in the course of low-temperature annealing in conditions of retaining of the nanostructured state of austenite and at feasibility of cascade occurrence of TMTs and SMEs. It has been shown that the use of super-rapid quenching (SRQ) via employment of a melt spinning technique makes it possible to produce ductile submicrocrystalline ribbons of the Heusler Ni2MnGa-based alloys with magnetically controllable TMTs. For a number of alloys based on titanium nickelide the effect of SRQ on the internal structure, grain refinement, and amorphization has been considered. The reasons of the amorphization and ways of subsequent nanostructurization of the alloys under investigation are discussed.