Wear and dent resistance of superelastic TiNi alloy

TiNi shape memory alloys are well known for their shape memory and superelastic effects, which are the result of reversible martensitic transformation. Materials exhibiting superelastic effect are characterized by high recoverable strain during deformation due to stress induced martensitic transformation. It has been recently found that TiNi alloy has superior wear resistance compared to other conventional materials. Understanding the superelastic behavior of this material helps to increase its utilization in applications where high wear and denting are common as in gears and bearings. Unfortunately, limited work has been done to investigate the superelastic effect of TiNi under wear and indentation conditions. In this study the superelastic behavior of TiNi under sliding wear and indentation loading is investigated. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.