Qin Yang

To improve the shape memory effect (SME) of 304 austenitic steel effectively and efficiently, thermomechanical cycling, comprising deformation at room temperature and annealing, was applied. The influences of cycle number and annealing temperature on the SME and microstructures in 304 austenitic steel were investigated by light microscope (LM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The shape recovery ratio was remarkably improved from 16% to 40% after two thermomechanical cycles. The optimum annealing temperature was 833 K in the process of thermomechanical cycling. The improved SME by thermomechanical cycling was mainly related to stress-induced ε martensite rather than stress-induced α’ martensite. The reason is that thermomechanical cycling can not only promote the occurrence of the stress-induced γ→ε martensitic transformation, but also suppress the subsequently stress-induced ε→α′ transformation.

This work aims to clarify the influence of texture type and intensity on the shape memory effect (SME) in NiTiNb shape memory alloy (SMA) pipe joints, especially revealing the causes for the anisotropy of SME via texture changes. Three NiTiNb rods with different intensities of the {111} texture were fabricated, and their microstructures, crystalline orientation distribution functions and inverse pole figures were obtained by X-ray diffraction and electron backscatter diffraction measurements. Simultaneously, the SME was characterized by inner-diameter recoverability of the corresponding pipe joints. For a given intensity of the {111} texture, the SME of the NiTiNb pipe joints strongly depended on the expansion direction due to {111} orientation-induced anisotropy of SME. In addition, both the SME and anisotropy of NiTiNb pipe joints increased with the increased intensity of the {111} texture. Therefore, a suitable expansion direction and strong texture intensity should be considered for high SME in NiTiNb pipe joints.