Mechanical and X-ray characterisation of the assisted two-way shape memoryeffect in NiTi

This study concerns the development of an experimental procedure to charact erise the fatigue behaviour of NiTi shape memory alloy subjected to thermal cycling under a constant applied load. This experimental technique combine s the measure of macroscopic properties with the X-ray analysis of the allo y structure, The evolution of transformation temperatures, total recoverabl e strain and hysteresis loops are measured up to 3000 heating and cooling c ycles. The X-ray structural analysis performed under the same experimental conditions helps to understand the underlying mechanisms.