Electron microscopy study of Nb-rich nanoprecipitates in Ni–Ti–Nb and their influence on the martensitic transformation

 Nb-rich nanoprecipitates in the matrix of an annealed commercial Ni–Ti–Nb alloy are investigated by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, including slice-and-view and chemical analysis. The precipitates have a diameter of around 100 nm, are faceted and have a cube-on-cube relation with the B2 matrix. In situ TEM cooling shows that the martensitic transformation is hampered by the presence of these precipitates. The latter could explain the increase in hysteresis when compared with the binary system.

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