Interfacial stresses and the anomalous character of thermoelastic-deformation curves of a Cu–Al–Ni shape-memory alloy

Thermoelastic-deformation curves of a single-crystalline Cu–13.5 wt % Al–4.0 wt % Ni shapememory (SM) alloy have been studied. Cyclic temperature variation in a 300-450 K interval revealed an anomalous character of thermoelastic hysteresis loops with regions of accelerated straining at both heating and cooling stages. The observed phenomenon can be used for increasing the response speed of SM-alloy based drive and sensor devices. Analysis of this phenomenon in the framework of the theory of diffuse martensitic transformations showed that the anomalous character of thermoelastic hysteresis loops may be related to the influence of interfacial stresses on the dynamics of martensitic transformations in these SM alloys.