Role of alloying additions on phase transformations, mechanical and pseudoelastic behavior of Cu-Al-Be shape memory alloys

Abstract

In this study, the influence of alloying additions on phase transformations, microstructure, transformation temperatures, mechanical properties, and pseudoelastic behavior of polycrystalline Cu-Al-Be shape memory alloy has been investigated. Four different SMAs were prepared in the range of 11.0–11.8 wt.% of aluminum and 0.5–0.6 wt.% of beryllium. Results reveal that the alloying of Al ≥ 11.5 wt.% and Be ≥ 0.57 wt.% forms austenite β<inf>1</inf>(DO<inf>3</inf>) at room temperature. An increase in both aluminum and beryllium decreases the transformation temperatures, and Cu-11.5Al-0.57Be SMA exhibits smaller energy differences (ΔH) between austenite and martensite. Alloying aluminum and beryllium didn't exhibit significant improvement in mechanical properties due to the existence of coarse grains. Maximum pseudoelasticity of 4% was achieved in Cu-11.5Al-0.57Be SMA with a retained strain of 0.192%. © 2021