Two way shape memory effect in NiTiHf high temperature shape memory alloy tubes

Abstract Two-way shape memory effect (TWSME) in nano-precipitation hardened, Ni50.3Ti29.7Hf20 high temperature shape memory alloy (HTSMA) thin walled tubes and its thermal stability were investigated. Torsional TWSME was induced by repeated thermal cycling across their martensitic transformation under applied shear stress. The effects of training parameters and geometric factors, such as the number of training cycles, shear stress levels, and thickness of the tube walls, on the resulting TWSME were evaluated. Thermal stability of TWSME was characterized as a function of annealing treatments at elevated temperatures. It was found that under 200 MPa, 600 thermal cycles were sufficient to reach a two-way shape memory strain (TWSMS) as high as 2.95%, which was shown to be stable upon annealing up to 400 °C for 30 min. This TWSMS was 85% of the maximum measured actuation strain under 200 MPa. The microstructure after thermo-mechanical training was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which did not indicate a significant change in precipitate structure and size after the training. However, small amount of remnant austenite was revealed at 100 °C below the martensite finish temperature, with notable amount of dislocations. Overall, it was found that nano-precipitation hardened Ni50.3Ti29.7Hf20 shows relatively high TWSMS and stable actuation response after much less number of training cycles as compared to binary NiTi and nickel lean NiTiHf compositions. Tube wall thickness and training stress levels have been found to have negligible effect on shape memory strains and number of cycles to reach the desired training level, for the ranges studied.