Contributions to the Transformation Entropy Change and Influencing Factors in Metamagnetic Ni-Co-Mn-Ga Shape Memory Alloys

Acoustic Emission Characteristics and Change the Transformation Entropy after Stress-Induced Martensite Stabilization in Shape Memory Ni53Mn25Ga22 Single Crystal

Measurements have been carried out to compare stress-induced martensite stabilization aged (SIM-aged) and as grown shape memory Ni53Mn25Ga22 single crystals with the means of simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and acoustic emission (AE). Contrary to expectations, the position of the hysteresis practically did not change, whilst the width of the hysteresis increased, and the forward and reverse transitions became sharper in the SIM-aged sample. The energy distributions of acoustic hits showed regular power law behaviour and the energy exponents were slightly different for heating and cooling; this asymmetry had different signs for the SIM-aged and as grown samples. During heating, in accordance with the sharper transitions observed in the DSC runs, two well-marked jumps could be seen on the plot of cumulative number of the acoustic emission events. Therefore, these were attributed to high sudden jumps in the phase transition during heating observed in the DSC. The effect of the SIM-aging on the transformation entropy was also investigated and it was found that it was about 36% less in the case of the SIM-aged sample.

Effect of Stress-Induced Martensite Stabilization on Acoustic Emission Characteristics and the Entropy of Martensitic Transformation in Shape Memory Ni51Fe18Ga27Co4 Single Crystal

Simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry, DSC, and acoustic emission, AE, measurements were carried out for single crystals of quenched and stress-induced martensite stabilized (SIM-aged) shape memory Ni51Fe18Ga27Co4 alloy. The transformation temperatures were shifted to higher values, the forward (from austenite to martensite) and reverse transitions became sharper and the width of the hysteresis increased in the SIM-aged sample. The energy distributions of acoustic hits showed similar behaviour to those of the quenched sample and the energy exponents, characterizing the power law behaviour, were also similar. For SIM-aged alloys at heating, in accordance with the sharper (burst-like) transition observed in the DSC run, few high-energy solitary hits were observed, and these hits did not fit to the energy distribution function fitted for smaller energies. Thus, these high-energy events were attributed to high sudden jumps in the phase transition during heating. The effect of long-range order (by applying a heat treatment at 573 K for 6 h to transform the B2 austenite to ordered L21 structure) and the SIM-aging on the transformation entropy was also investigated by DSC. It was found that the entropy was about 36% smaller after SIM-aging of the quenched sample and it was practically unchanged after austenite stabilization.

Optimizing the Caloric Properties of Cu-Doped Ni-Mn-Ga Alloys

With the purpose to optimize the functional properties of Heusler alloys for their use in solid-state refrigeration, the characteristics of the martensitic and magnetic transitions undergone by Ni₅₀Mn_25−xGa₂₅Cu_x (x = 3–11) alloys have been studied. The results reveal that, for a Cu content of x = 5.5–7.5, a magnetostructural transition between paramagnetic austenite and ferromagnetic martensite takes place. In such a case, magnetic field and stress act in the same sense, lowering the critical combined fields to induce the transformation; moreover, magnetocaloric and elastocaloric effects are both direct, suggesting the use of combined fields to improve the overall refrigeration capacity of the alloy. Within this range of compositions, the measured transformation entropy is increased owing to the magnetic contribution to entropy, showing a maximum at composition x = 6, in which the magnetization jump at the transformation is the largest of the set. At the same time, the temperature hysteresis of the transformation displays a minimum at x = 6, attributed to the optimal lattice compatibility between austenite and martensite. We show that, among this system, the optimal caloric performance is found for the x = 6 composition, which displays high isothermal entropy changes (−36 J·kg⁻¹·K⁻¹ under 5 T and −8.5 J·kg⁻¹·K⁻¹ under 50 MPa), suitable working temperature (300 K), and low thermal hysteresis (3 K).