Effects of Predefined Thermomechanical Procedure on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of the Two-Way Shape Memory Effect in the NiTi Alloy

In the current paper, a predefined thermomechanical procedure has been applied to the two-way shape memory effect (TWSME) in a NiTi alloy to study the effect of two different applied load conditions on the induced martensitic state. The microstructure of the strips was studied using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) fitted with an EDS microprobe, and microhardness tests at the end of both the training and thermal cycles. Inducing internal stresses along specified directions during training cycles results in the formation of oriented martensitic variants rather than expected twinned martensitic variants upon cooling. It was found that the microstructure is made up of interlocking martensitic lathes, including the fine martensite colony next to the coarse martensite lathes. Furthermore, the results of the average hardness tests for bending at one point and three points were 241 and 247 HV0.2, respectively. It was shown that only the cubic austenitic phase (B2) and the martensitic monoclinic phase (B19′) experience transformation. The results reveal that homogeneous bending in three locations leads to achieving the best difference between high- and low-temperature curvatures after training.