Strain rate sensitivity in superelasticity

This paper. deals with the influence of martensitic transformation latent heat on the superelastic behaviour modelling. Exothermic and endothermic effects are responsible for a strong evolution on the temperature field inside the material that modifies its mechanical response. This is responsible for a strain late effect that is taken into account by introducing a coupling equation between the production rate of martensite and the temperature change, into a micro macro modelling of the superthermoelastic behaviour with the assumption that the temperature field remains uniform but different to the test temperature imposed. Numerical simulations so obtained show a good agreement with experimental results performed on Cu-based superelastic alloys. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.