Effects of Severe Plastic Deformation and Subsequent Annealing on Microstructures of a Ni50.6Ti49.4 Shape Memory Alloy

High-pressure torsion (HPT) was applied to the Ni50.6Ti49.4 (at. %) alloy ingot up to 1/4, 2, 16, 32 and 48 turns under a pressure of 6.0 GPa. The samples were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and microhardness measurement. The results indicate that martensitic transformation and formation of amorphous phase occurred during the HPT process. As the HPT turns increased, more amorphous phase formed. The fraction of amorphization was analyzed based on the X-ray results. The microhardness increased with the HPT turns, which may be related to strain-induced martensite transformation, formation of the amorphous phase, increased dislocation densities and grain refinement. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) test revealed that shape memory alloys can be produced by HPT and post-HPT annealing from a NiTi ingot.