Mechanical and thermornechanical properties of a Ti50Ni25Cu25 melt spun ribbon

The mechanical and thermomechanical properties of a Ti50Ni25Cu25 melt spun ribbon were studied. After annealing the initially amorphous ribbon at 500 degreesC for 15 min, the crystallized ribbon exhibits a well-defined shape memory effect and a superelastic shape recovery of up to 10% strain. No flat stress-plateau is associated with this high superelasticity. During cyclic deformation with strain increment, the shape recovery strain increases while the hysteresis decreases. The yield stress also decreases significantly with increasing deformation cycles, leading to superelasticity with very low hysteresis. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.