S. Vedamanickam, R. TN, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, CHENNAI, India

Summary: Even though binary Cu-Al alloys exhibit shape memory effect and higher transformation temperatures, they are prone for poor workability. This is especially the case with polycrystalline alloys. This limits their practical applications. Attempts have been made by researchers in the past to improve their mechanical and shape memory properties by ternary and quaternary additions, such as Mn and Ni, leading to improved ductility and shape memory properties. A similar trend has been followed by adding Fe to Ni-Al alloys so as to overcome their brittleness. The effect of Fe addition on Cu-Al SMAs has not been explored so far. In the present work, therefore, the effect of Fe on the workability and transformation temperatures has been studied. The alloy shows improved ductility and shape memory properties. The results are presented and analyzed in the paper. Keywords: shape memory alloys; shape memory properties; transformation temperatures; mechanical properties; workability.