Shape memory properties and microstructural evolution of rapidly solidified CuAlBe alloys

•The CuAlBe SMAs were produced by means of arc-melter and melt-spinner techniques.•MT was directly obtained in melt-spuns without any intermediate process.•The transformation temperatures decreased with increasing Be amount.•The thickness of martensitic plates in the ribbons reduced with increasing Be.•SMP of CuAl was improved by the addition of Be together with rapid solidification.

In this work, the effects of Be addition on the microstructure and phase transformation temperatures of Cu–12Al–xBe (x = 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6 wt.%) shape memory alloys fabricated by using the arc-melting and melt-spinning techniques have been investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the arc-melted alloys consisted of austenitic β1, martensitic β1′ and γ2 precipitate phases, whereas melt-spun ribbons were composed of a fully martensitic phase. The average grain size of martensitic phases in melt-spun ribbons was determined by electron microscopy images, showing a decrease with increasing Beryllium (Be) amount. Moreover, it was found that the Be addition in the arc-melted alloys had a distinct effect on the morphology of the γ2 precipitate phase. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that the thickness of martensitic plates in the melt-spun ribbons reduced with increasing Be addition. In a differential scanning calorimeter analysis, no martensitic transformation (Ms) peak was observed in arc-melted alloys, but it was clearly detected in melt-spun ribbons, in which Ms decreased dramatically with increasing Be addition. The improvement in the shape memory ability of melt-spun ribbons was explained in terms of the refinement in grain size and martensitic plates.