A thermo-mechanical treatment to improve the superelastic performances of biomedical Ti-26Nb and Ti-20Nb-6Zr (at.%) alloys

► Ni-free shape memory Ti-Nb and Ti-Nb-Zr alloys designed as biomedical materials. ► A simple thermo-mechanical treatment of flash annealing on as-cold-deformed specimens. ► Thermal-induced nanostructuration improves strength and superelasticity. ► Zr addition responds in better mechanical performances after the treatment. ► Perfect strain recovery of 3% is achieved in Ti-Nb-Zr alloy.