Modelling of martensitic transformation and plastic slip effects on the thermo-mechanical behaviour of Fe-based shape memory alloys

In this paper, we propose a thermo-mechanical three-dimensional constitutive law adapted to Fe-based shape memory alloys. It takes into account the effect of the martensitic transformation and the plastic slip mechanisms and their interaction. The adopted formulation is based on a simplified micromechanical description. The macroscopic behaviour is derived by considering the equivalent homogeneous effect on a representative volume element. The Gibbs free energy expression is defined. Thermodynamic driving forces are then derived and compared to critical forces leading to the constitutive equations solved by Newton-Raphson numerical scheme. Obtained results for thermo-mechanical loadings are compared to experimental ones. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.