Austenite-martensite interface in shape memory alloys

A two-scale phase field simulation is developed for austenite-martensite interface to understand the effects of crystalline symmetry and geometric compatibilities on the reversibility of structural phase transformations in shape memory alloys. It is observed that when the middle eigenvalue of martensite transformation strain is equal to zero, an exact austenite-martensite interface is formed with negligible elastic energy. On the other hand, when the middle eigenvalue is different from 0, an inexact interface between austenite and martensitic twin is formed, and the corresponding elastic energy increases with the increased magnitude of the middle eigenvalue, resulting in substantially higher energy barrier for austenite-martensite transformation, and thus higher thermal hysteresis in shape memory alloys.