Role of Zr and thermomechanical treatment on phase transformation and functional properties of NiTi-based shape memory alloys

A systematic investigation was conducted to evaluate the role of Zr addition on the martensitic phase transformation behavior and properties of NiTi-based shape memory alloys. Equiatomic binary NiTi alloy and ternary Ni50Ti45Zr5 and Ni50Ti40Zr10 alloys (at.%) were processed by a simple thermomechanical treatment including cold rolling followed by post-deformation annealing at 450 °C for 30 and 60 min. The microstructural investigation and thermal analyses reveal that martensitic phase transformation is suppressed by adding Zr. Solid solution strengthening due to Zr addition, strain hardening due to cold rolling and formation of (Ti,Zr)2Ni precipitates in a dual-phase microstructure during annealing leads to a significant increase in hardness in the thermomechanically treated alloys (e.g., up to 550 Hv for Ni50Ti45Zr5 alloy). The stress-strain curve of martensitic Ni50Ti50 alloy reveals the essential characteristics of shape memory effect, however, Ni50Ti45Zr5 alloy shows typical features of pseudoelasticity with significantly high stress plateau (∼600 MPa) and remarkable recovered strain of 3.5% during unloading.