The phase field method was applied to study the microstructure evolution of Ni4Ti3 precipitates during stress-free and stress-assisted aging of bi-crystalline NiTi shape memory alloys (SAMs) with two different initi...The phase field method was applied to study the microstructure evolution of Ni4Ti3 precipitates during stress-free and stress-assisted aging of bi-crystalline NiTi shape memory alloys (SAMs) with two different initial Ni-contents of 51.5% and 52.5% (mole fraction), respectively. The simulation results show that, during stress-free aging of the NiTi alloy with a low supersaturation of Ni (i.e., Ti-51.5%Ni), the Ni4Ti3 precipitates exhibit a heterogeneous distribution with a high number density of particles at the grain boundary, leaving most of the grain interiors free of precipitates; while for the NiTi alloy with a high supersaturation of Ni (i.e., Ti-52.5%Ni), the Ni4Ti3 precipitates show a homogeneous distribution across the entire simulation system. The stress-assisted aging can give rise to homogeneous distribution of the precipitates, regardless of the initial Ni-content; however, the distribution of variant type within the two grains is heterogeneous.展开更多
基金Project (50871039) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaProject (2011ZB0007) supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities of ChinaProject (201104090881) support by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
文摘The phase field method was applied to study the microstructure evolution of Ni4Ti3 precipitates during stress-free and stress-assisted aging of bi-crystalline NiTi shape memory alloys (SAMs) with two different initial Ni-contents of 51.5% and 52.5% (mole fraction), respectively. The simulation results show that, during stress-free aging of the NiTi alloy with a low supersaturation of Ni (i.e., Ti-51.5%Ni), the Ni4Ti3 precipitates exhibit a heterogeneous distribution with a high number density of particles at the grain boundary, leaving most of the grain interiors free of precipitates; while for the NiTi alloy with a high supersaturation of Ni (i.e., Ti-52.5%Ni), the Ni4Ti3 precipitates show a homogeneous distribution across the entire simulation system. The stress-assisted aging can give rise to homogeneous distribution of the precipitates, regardless of the initial Ni-content; however, the distribution of variant type within the two grains is heterogeneous.