Nucleation of austenite in mechanically stabilized martensite by localized heating

► A bar-shaped specimen of Cu-Al-Ni single crystal is mechanically stabilized as a single variant of martensite. ► Heating is provided locally by an iron tip at various points of the specimen's surface. ► It is observed that austenite always nucleates at a corner and not under the tip. ► In a simplified model, we propose an explanation for the location of the nucleation points. ► Our ideas are based on the notion of quasiconvexity.