RECOVERABLE EFFECTS RELATED TO PSEUDOELASTIC CYCLING IN CU-ZN-AL SINGLE-CRYSTALS

Pseudoelastic cycling of Cu-Zn-Al single crystals has been shown to in duce microstructural changes in the material. The mechanical response is also altered. However, some of the observed changes in the mechanic al behavior are at least partially recovered at temperatures at which point defects are mobile. In this work results are presented in order to analyze the different contributions associated to the changes of th e mechanical behavior during pseudoelastic cycling and in a subsequent ageing stage in the P-phase condition for Cu-Zn-Al single crystals. T he magnitudes and kinetics of the recoverable changes are analyzed and compared with the other known phenomena that take place at these temp eratures, i.e. the martensite stabilization and the beta phase recover y. Results show that the evolution is not simply related to these phen omena. Additional contributions, like point defects generation during cycling and the effect of dislocation array on the beta phase recovery , need to be considered.