Modelling of martensitic transformation and plastic slip effects on the thermo-mechanical behaviour of Fe-based shape memory alloys

In this paper, we propose a thermo-mechanical three-dimensional constitutive law adapted to Fe-based shape memory alloys. It takes into account the effect of the martensitic transformation and the plastic slip mechanisms and their interaction. The adopted formulation is based on a simplified micromechanical description. The macroscopic behaviour is derived by considering the equivalent homogeneous effect on a representative volume element. The Gibbs free energy expression is defined. Thermodynamic driving forces are then derived and compared to critical forces leading to the constitutive equations solved by Newton–Raphson numerical scheme. Obtained results for thermo-mechanical loadings are compared to experimental ones.