Solid-state cooling technologies have been considered as potential alternatives for vapor compression cooling systems.The search for refrigeration materials displaying a unique combination of pronounced caloric effect,low hysteresis,and high reversibility on phase transformation was very active in recent years.Here,we achieved increase in the elastocaloric reversibility and decrease in the friction dissipation of martensite transformations in the superelastic nano-grained NiTi alloys obtained by cold rolling and annealing treatment,with very low stress hysteresis(6.3 MPa)under a large applied strain(5%).Large adiabatic temperature changes(△T_(max)=16.3 K atε=5%)and moderate COP_(mater)values(maximum COP_(mater)=11.8 atε=2%)were achieved.The present nano-grained NiTi alloys exhibited great potential for applications as a highly efficient elastocaloric material.
Bone-mimicking gradient porous NiTi shape memory alloys(SMAs)are promising for orthopedic im-plants due to their distinctive superelastic functional properties.However,premature plastic deformation in weak areas such as thinner struts,nodes,and sharp corners severely deteriorates the superelasticity of gradient porous NiTi SMAs.In this work,we prepared gradient porous NiTi SMAs with a porosity of 50%by additive manufacturing(AM)and achieved a remarkable improvement of superelasticity by a simple solution treatment regime.After solution treatment,phase transformation temperatures dropped signif-icantly,the dislocation density decreased,and partial intergranular Ti-rich precipitates were transferred into the grain.Compared to as-built samples,the strain recovery rate of solution-treated samples was nearly doubled at a pre-strain of 6%(up to 90%),and all obtained a stable recoverable strain of more than 4%.The remarkable superelasticity improvement was attributed to lower phase transformation tem-peratures,fewer dislocations,and the synergistic strengthening effect of intragranular multi-scale Ti-Ni precipitates.Notably,the gradient porous structure played a non-negligible role in both superelasticity deterioration and improvement.The microstructure evolution of the solution-treated central strut after constant 10 cycles and the origin of the stable superelastic response of gradient porous NiTi SMAs were revealed.This work provides an accessible strategy for improving the superelastic performance of gra-dient porous NiTi SMAs and proposes a key strategy for achieving such high-performance architectured materials.
Improving the shape memory effect and superelasticity of Cu-based shape memory alloys(SMAs)has always been a research hotspot in many countries.This work systematically investigates the effects of Gyroid triply periodic minimal surface(TPMS)lattice structures with different unit sizes and volume fractions on the manufacturing viability,compressive mechanical response,superelasticity and heating recovery properties of CuAlMn SMAs.The results show that the increased specific surface area of the lattice structure leads to increased powder adhesion,making the manufacturability proportional to the unit size and volume fraction.The compressive response of the CuAlMn SMAs Gyroid TPMS lattice structure is negatively correlated with the unit size and positively correlated with the volume fraction.The superelastic recovery of all CuAlMn SMAs with Gyroid TPMS lattice structures is within 5%when the cyclic cumulative strain is set to be 10%.The lattice structure shows the maximum superelasticity when the unit size is 3.00 mm and the volume fraction is 12%,and after heating recovery,the total recovery strain increases as the volume fraction increases.This study introduces a new strategy to enhance the superelastic properties and expand the applications of CuAlMn SMAs in soft robotics,medical equipment,aerospace and other fields.
Gradient nanostructured(GNS)metallic materials are commonly achieved by gradient severe plastic de-formation with a gradient of nano-to micro-sized structural units from the surface/boundaries to the center.Certainly,such GNS can be inversely positioned,which however has not yet been reported.The present work reports a facile method in deformation gradient control to attain inverse gradient nanostructured(iGNS),i.e.,tailoring the cross-section shape,successfully demonstrated in Ti-50.3Ni shape memory alloy(SMA)wire through cold rolling.The microstructure of the rolled wire is characterized by a macroscopic inverse gradient from boundaries to the center—the average sizes of grain and martensite domain evolve from micrometer to nanometer scale.The iGNS leads to a gradient martensitic transforma-tion upon stress,which has been proved to be effectively reversible via in-situ bending scanning electron microscopy(SEM)observations.The iGNS Ti-50.3Ni SMA exhibits quasi-linear superelasticity(SE)in a wide temperature range from 173 to 423 K.Compared to uniform cold rolling,the gradient cold rolling with less overall plasticity further improves SE strain(up to 4.8%)and SE efficiency.In-situ tensiling synchrotron X-ray diffraction(SXRD)analysis reveals the underlying mechanisms of the unique SE in the iGNS SMAs.It provides a new design strategy to realize excellent SE in SMAs and sheds light on the advanced GNS metallic materials.
Directed energy deposition-arc(DED-Arc)technology has the advantages of simple equipment,low manufacturing cost and high deposition rate,while the use of DED-Arc has problems of microstructure inhomogeneity,position dependence of macroscopic mechanical properties and anisotropy.Therefore,it is necessary to carry out a subsequent heat treatment to improve its microstructure uniformity,mechanical properties and superelasticity.In this investigation,the DED-Arc 15-layer NiTi alloy thin-walled parts with the solution treatment at different process parameters were studied to analyze the effects of solution heat treatment on microstructure,phase composition,phase transformation,microhardness,tensile and superelasticity.The temperature range of solution treatment is 800-1050℃,and the treatment time range is 1-5.5 h.The results show that after solution treatment at 800℃/1 h,the content of precipitated phase decreases,the grain is refined,the microhardness increases,and the mechanical properties in the 0°direction are improved.The strain recovery rate after 10 tensile cycles has increased from 37.13%(as-built)to 49.25%(solid solution treatment).This research provides an effective post treatment method for high-performance DED-Arc NiTi shape memory alloys.
