Path dependence and multiaxial behavior of a polycrystalline NiTi alloy within the pseudoelastic and pseudoplastic temperature regimes

Several multiaxial experiments on polycrystalline NiTi have been conducted within a wide temperature range. In this vein, the pseudoelastic as well as the pseudoplastic behavior are investigated within the distinct temperature regimes. Isothermal and temperature varying thermomechanical loading paths are applied by means of an active temperature control in order to characterize the path dependence of pseudoelasticity and the multiaxial one-way effect of the alloy. The main focus is on the determination of the dependence of the loading sequence, the related non-linearity of the material and the combined material interaction, e.g., referring to reorientation processes for complex loading paths with respect to pseudoelasticity and the one-way effect. Isothermal tension/compression/torsion experiments are performed on an austenitic microstructure spanning all four quadrants of the axial/torsional strain subspace. In this regard, it is deduced in the course of this contribution that the apparently qualitatively different material behavior for different strain paths in the pseudoelastic temperature regime might be explained by the axial/torsional and tension/compression asymmetry. Furthermore, some multidimensional axial/torsional stress controlled experiments are realized with loading on a martensitic and unloading being implemented both on martensitic and austenitic microstructures. Here, the peculiarity of the one-way effect referring to apparently different transformation temperatures is ascribed to the loading history of the specimen material and to differently oriented martensite variants. In order to elucidate these effects, potential explanations for the pseudoelastic path dependence and the non-linearity in the material behavior with reference to the multiaxial one-way effect are presented.