Physics of the Solid State · 1998 · 15 citations · 0 references
Natural SciencesMaterials EngineeringMaterials ScienceMetallurgyPhase TransformationsSolid State PhysicsAlloysKinetics Of Phase TransformationsMartensitic TransformationsMetalsMicrostructure EvolutionRadiation Damage In MaterialsMicrostructural Evolution Under IrradiationMicrostructure Evolution Under IrradiationNeutron Damage EffectsNeutron IrradiationNeutron Irradiation DamageNeutron Irradiation EffectsShape Memory EffectsShape-memory Alloys
The paper reports measurements of the strains and electrical resistance of a TiNi shape-memory alloy under irradiation in the low-temperature helium circuit of a nuclear reactor. Irradiation of the alloy in martensitic state at 170 K revealed that the transition temperatures from cubic to rhombohedral and from rhombohedral to monoclinic phase decrease exponentially with increasing dose. No change in the shape-memory effects and transformation plasticity was observed up to a dose of 6.7×10 22 n/m 2 . Keeping the sample at 340 K without irradiation restores (increases) partially the transition temperatures. The relations observed can be assigned to a change in the degree of long-range order in the lattice caused by neutron irradiation.