Crystal symmetry and the reversibility of martensitic transformations

Kaushik Bhattacharya (), Sergio Conti, Giovanni Zanzotto and Johannes Zimmer
Additional contact information
Kaushik Bhattacharya: California Institute of Technology
Sergio Conti: Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences
Giovanni Zanzotto: Università di Padova
Johannes Zimmer: Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences

Nature, 2004, vol. 428, issue 6978, 55-59

Abstract: Abstract Martensitic transformations are diffusionless, solid-to-solid phase transitions, and have been observed in metals, alloys, ceramics and proteins1,2. They are characterized by a rapid change of crystal structure, accompanied by the development of a rich microstructure. Martensitic transformations can be irreversible, as seen in steels upon quenching1, or they can be reversible, such as those observed in shape-memory alloys3,4. In the latter case, the microstructures formed on cooling are easily manipulated by loads and disappear upon reheating. Here, using mathematical theory and numerical simulation, we explain these sharp differences in behaviour on the basis of the change in crystal symmetry during the transition. We find that a necessary condition for reversibility is that the symmetry groups of the parent and product phases be included in a common finite symmetry group. In these cases, the energy barrier to lattice-invariant shear is generically higher than that pertaining to the phase change and, consequently, transformations of this type can occur with virtually no plasticity. Irreversibility is inevitable in all other martensitic transformations, where the energy barrier to plastic deformation (via lattice-invariant shears, as in twinning or slip) is no higher than the barrier to the phase change itself. Various experimental observations confirm the importance of the symmetry of the stable states in determining the macroscopic reversibility of martensitic transformations.

Date: 2004
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature02378 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:428:y:2004:i:6978:d:10.1038_nature02378

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature02378

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().