Influence of reactive stresses on thermodynamics and kinetics of martensitic transitions in single crystals of the shape memory Cu–Al–Ni alloy

The heat of the $\beta'_1$–$\beta_1$-martensitic transition in single crystals of the alloy Cu–13.5 wt% Al–4.0 wt% Ni was studied under conditions of a constrained shape memory deformation and emergence of reactive stresses. The experiments were performed with samples bended in the form of a clamp. The sample was put into a continuous stainless steel ring, and this construction was placed in the capsule of a differential calorimeter. It was found that, with an increase in the magnitude of preliminary bend deformation, the maximum in the heat release (or heat absorption) curves decreases noticeably and its position shifts to higher temperatures. It was revealed that the latent heat of the transition decreases by a factor of 2 and 3 during heating and cooling, respectively. It was assumed that the observed effects are related to the influence of reactive stresses on the parameters of martensitic transitions. A quantitative analysis of the data obtained was performed in terms of the theory of diffuse martensitic transitions taking into account both the thermodynamic and kinetic factors.