Intrinsic two-way shape memory effect in a Ni-Mn-Sn metamagnetic shape memory microwire

An intrinsic two-way shape memory effect with a fully recoverable strain of 1.0%was achieved in an as-prepared Ni50Mn37.5Sn12.5 metamagnetic shape memory microwire fabricated by Taylor-Ulitovsky method.This two-way shape memory effect is mainly owing to the internal stress caused by the retained martensite in austenite matrix,as revealed by transmission electron microscopy observations and highenergy X-ray diffraction experiments.After superelastic training for 30 loading/unloading cycles at room temperature,the amount of retained martensite increased and the recoverable strain of two-way shape memory effect increased significantly to 2.2%.Furthermore,a giant recoverable strain of 11.2%was attained under a bias stress of 300 MPa in the trained microwire.These properties confer this microwire great potential for micro-actuation applications.