Stress hysteresis and domain evolution in thermoelastic tension strips

Martensite domain formation, evolution and annihilation are widely observed in stress-induced phase transformation of superelastic NiTi polycrystalline shape memory alloys. By the calculation of the thermodynamic driving force and the incorporation of friction kinetics of the interface, the domain morphology and its evolution were successfully simulated by the interface-tracking technique. The computational results agree well with the experimental observation of tensile strips. Based on theoretical and computational results, we discussed the effects of critical driving force and the existence of metastability on the transition between different domain patterns. © 2009 The Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics.