Mechanical and shape memory properties of Ni43Co7Mn39Sn11 alloy compacts fabricated by pressureless sintering

Mechanical and shape memory properties of Ni43Co7Mn39Sn11 metamagnetic shape memory sintering compacts, fabricated by pressureless sintering, were investigated. With sintering time the porosity drastically decreases and the ductility is significantly enhanced compared to the samples obtained by conventional induction melting. Moreover, the fracture strain in the specimen sintered at 1173 K for 144 h is almost the same as that in the high density sintering compacts by spark plasma sintering. Interestingly, the shape memory effect decreases with decreasing porosity.