Effect of grain size on the microstructure and mechanical anisotropy of stress-induced martensitic NiTi alloys

Stress-induced martensite always exhibits an oriented microstructure, which leads to mechanical anisotropy in NiTi alloys. In this study, the effects of grain size on the microstructure and mechanical anisotropy of stressinduced-martensitic NiTi were investigated. Nanocrystalline NiTi exhibited single-variant and twin-free nanograins; ultrafine-grained NiTi exhibited (111)m type CYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER BYELORUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN I, (201) deformation twins, (100) deformation twins and (001)m compound twins. Microstructural differences suggest that the nanocrystalline and ultrafine-grained alloys had different textures, grains were reoriented, and alloy deformed plastically upon indentation loading. Stressinduced nanocrystalline martensitic NiTi exhibited considerably stronger elastic-modulus anisotropy than ultrafine-grained NiTi when a lower indentation load was applied, whereas stress-induced ultrafine-grained martensitic NiTi exhibited stronger hardness anisotropy.

Automated summary

This study investigates the effects of grain size on the microstructure and mechanical anisotropy of stress-induced-martensitic NiTi, revealing that nanocrystalline and ultrafine-grained alloys exhibit different grain orientations and mechanical properties.