Role of thermal martensite in shape memory effect of CoAl and CoNi alloys

To address the role of the HCP martensite in CoAl and CoNi shape memory alloys, the relationship between the shape memory effect (SME) and the content of the thermal and stress-induced HCP martensite was investigated in the solution-treated CoAl and CoNi alloys. In-situ optical observations were employed to investigate the contents of thermal HCP martensite before and after deep cooling and its influence on the stress-induced HCP martensite transformation and SME. The results show that the SME in both the CoAl and the CoNi alloys results from the stress-induced HCP martensite. The role of the thermal HCP martensite in both of them is the strengthening of the matrix. The much higher yield strength in the solution-treated CoAl alloy due to solution strengthening of Al is responsible for its better SME compared with the CoNi alloy.