Microstructural Characterization Of Ni4Ti3 Precipitates In Nickel Titanium Tubes And Modeling Of Precipitate-Matrix Interactions

NiTi alloys are well known for their shape memory (SME) and superelastic effect (SE). Previous studies have shown that Ni₄Ti₃ precipitates effect the mechanical behavior of NiTi. However due to the size of the precipitates being ~100nm in certain products, their spatial distribution could not be determined on a large enough area due to limitation of microscope resolution or field of view. In this study we try to estimate the 3D spatial distribution using 2D high resolution micrographs and stereology. This estimate shall then be used to model precipitate-matrix interactions during plastic/elastic deformations using Fast Fourier Transform based technique. This shall be validated from results reported in existing literature. The technique shall also probe into how the precipitate effect texture evolution in NiTi tubes.