Influence of microstructural parameters on damping capacity in CuAlBe shape memory alloys

•Microstructural parameters affect the damping capacity in CuAlBe alloys.•The dissipated energy and specific damping capacity characterize the damping capacity.•The dissipated energy increases for lower grain sizes and higher temperatures.•Stress-grain size and temperature diagrams for the pseudoelastic effect are presented.•The damping capacity was quantified as a function of the studied parameters.

The influence of microstructural parameters on damping capacity in β CuAlBe polycrystalline shape memory alloys was studied in detail by compression tests. For higher maximum stresses, the pseudoelastic strain increases, higher values of dissipated energy are obtained, and the specific damping capacity increases to reach a stable value. As the grain size of the samples increases, the dissipated energy decreases, but higher values of the specific damping capacity are obtained and at lower strains. A similar behavior is observed as the test temperature decreases in the range of 278–340 K.Stress-grain size and stress–temperature diagrams were constructed, indicating the areas where it is possible to obtain the PE effect, and the optimal working zones. A quantification of the dissipated energy and the specific damping capacity as a function of σmax, grain size, and temperature was realized.