CHARACTERIZATION OF VOLTAGE INDUCED TRANSFORMATION IN THE MICROSTRUCTURE OF A SUPERELASTIC NiTi LEVEL
Nitinol, mechanically induced transformation, microstructural characterization.
In the present work, the influence of transformations induced by deformation of a superelastic NiTi alloy with approximately equiatomic chemical composition was studied. In a 1 mm diameter Nitinol wire, the phases present in the analyzed material were identified by microstructural characterization techniques, as received and submitted to different radii of curvature. According to the gradual decrease in the radii of curvature an increase in the volume of mechanically induced transformations was observed, as well as a granulometric decrease of the microstructure, being able to be quantified and measured manually and with the aid of software. Microhardness tests were performed in order to verify variations in mechanical properties. In contrast to investigations of NiTi alloys in asymmetric induced stress, phase transformation behaviors in polycrystalline NiTi-form memory alloys were very limited. The asymmetric transformation characteristics and related microscopic mechanisms in polycrystalline NiTi materials have much to be studied.