The ultrasound pulse echo overlap method has been used to determine the elastic
stiffness coefficients and the corresponding ultrasonic attenuation for a single crystal of the
Ni40Ti50Cu10 alloy as a function of temperature. The elastic stiffness coefficients exhibit anomalies
near the martensitic phase transition. In the shear stiffness coefficient, corresponding to C44
propagation mode in austenite, a large jump occurs from 36 GPa, above the transition, down to
15 GPa, below the transition. This jump is accompanied by a strong increase in the ultrasonic
attenuation. The stiffness coefficients corresponding to C11 and C' = (C11 – C12)/2 modes in
austenite show an anomaly at the phase transition, however, these are small effects compared to the
one associated with C44 mode. The elastic behavior of this crystal has been characterised down to a
temperature of 100 K.