Mechanical twinning and subgrain formation in ordered Ti50Ni47Fe3
TiNi is an intermetallic compound with the B2(CsCl) crystal structure. As temperature decreases, it undergoes a martensitic transformation from cubic B2 to monoclinic B19', the reversibility of which is responsible for shape memory properties. Ordered intermetallics generally have limited ductilty, however, >50% elongation of TiNi has been produced by either warm or cold working. Consequently, thermomechanical processing has resulted in improved mechanical properties. TEM is required to characterize the deformation mechanisms (mechanical twinning and slip) and resulting substructures.Substitution of 3%Fe for Ni into the binary TiNi alloy (Ti50Ni47Fe3) depresses the martensitic transformation, such that room temperature working does not stress induce the martensitic transformation. In order to improve the mechanical properties of this B2 intermetallic, fully annealed (875°C/2 hrs) bars have been cold swaged 10%,20%,30% and 40%, followed by different recovery annealing treatments. Additional samples have been warm swaged at 500°C. The structure is observed optically and by TEM, utilizing Philips' EM 400 twin and EM 430 super twin microscopes.