Symmetry and reversibility of martensitic transformations

Kaushik Bhattacharya, Sergio Conti, Giovanni Zanzotto, and Johannes Zimmer

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Submission date: 03. Sep. 2003
published in: Nature, 428 (2004) 6978, p. 55-59 
DOI number (of the published article): 10.1038/nature02378
Bibtex
with the following different title: Crystal symmetry and the reversibility of Martensitic transformations

Abstract:
Martensitic phase transformations observed in many crystalline solids are of interest for a variety of technological and scientific reasons. They come in two widely different classes. In steels, the transformation microstructure induced by quenching (fast cooling) remains essentially unchanged upon subsequent loading or heating. The transformation is not reversible. In shape-memory alloys, on the contrary, the microstructures formed on cooling are easily manipulated by loads and disappear upon reheating. The transformation is reversible or `thermoelastic'. This paper provides a simple explanation for this difference on the basis of crystal symmetry.