Effect of Aging on Phase Transition Behavior of Ti50Ni15Pd25Cu10 High Temperature Shape Memory Alloys
Formation of Ni4Ti3 precipitates during aging of Ni-rich binary NiTi shape memory alloys and its effect on transition behavior during transformation from austenite to martensite phase has been studied extensively. However for equi-atomic NiTi-based quaternary high temperature shape memory alloy, two-stage martensitic transformation was detected for the first time. The Ti50Ni15Pd25Cu10 high temperature shape memory alloys were investigated for the hardness and transformation temperatures at aging temperature of 550°C. Aging at 550°C for 6 h resulted in remarkable increase in the hardness, whereas the phase transformation temperatures decreased significantly. During forward transformation from austenite to martensite, two-stage martensitic transformation; B2 (cubic) → R-phase and R-phase → B19 (orthorhombic) was observed.