EFFECT OF MARTENSITE ORDERING ON SME IN A Cu-Zn-Al ALLOY

The correlation between the shape memory effect(SME)and the ordering degree inmartensite formed through various heat-treatment processes,e.g.ice water quenching,step-quenching and aging etc.,has been studied in a Cu-26Zn-4Al alloy.The martensite or-dering degree is estimated by △d,the spacing difference of some pairs of diffracting planeswith indices satisfying a relation of(h~2-h~2)/3=(k~2-k~2)/n(n=1 for 9R martensite,n=4for 18R martensite).M 18R martensite is obtained from step-quenching,in which the valueof △d increases with the holding duration of step-quenching,and the shape recoveryrate η increases synchronouslly.9R martensite is obtained from direct water-quenching,thevalue of △d is quite large and SME is also good at just quenching state.But both △dand η decrease continuously with aging time at room temperature.This stabilization phe-nomenon of martensite is explained by the observation of TEM lattice fringe image,and itmay be attributed to the clustering of quenched-in supersaturated vacancies at(001)close-packed plane in martensite and decreasing the ordering degree.A reduction in△d and η occuring in the specimens on step-quenching or aging at higher temperature,which may be related to the precipitation of the α-phase and the enrichment of solute atoms,decreases the ordering degree.