Ambient-temperature high damping capacity in TiPd-based martensitic alloys

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) have attracted considerable attention for their high damping capacities. Here we investigate the damping behavior of Ti50(Pd50−xDx) SMAs (D=Fe, Co, Mn, V) by dynamic mechanical analysis. We find that these alloys show remarkably similar damping behavior. There exists a sharp damping peak associated with the B2-B19 martensitic transformation and a high damping plateau (Q−1~0.02-0.05) over a wide ambient-temperature range (220-420 K) due to the hysteretic twin boundary motion. After doping hydrogen into the above alloys, a new relaxation-type damping peak appears in the martensite phase over 270-360 K. Such a peak is considered to originate from the interaction of hydrogen atoms with twin boundaries and the corresponding damping capacity (Q−1~0.05-0.09) is enhanced by roughly twice that of the damping plateau for each alloy. Moreover, the relaxation peaks are at higher temperatures for the TiPd-based alloys (270-370 K) than for the TiNi-based alloys (190-260 K). We discuss the influence of hydrogen diffusion, mobility of twin boundaries and hydrogen-twin boundary interaction on the temperature range of the relaxation peak. Our results suggest that a martensite, with appropriate values for twinning shear and hydrogen doping level, provides a route towards developing high damping SMAs for applications in desired temperature ranges.