Production and Characterization of Stainless Steel Based Fe-Cr-Ni-Mn-Si(-CO) Shape Memory Alloys

It is well known that the Fe based alloys can exhibit shape memory effect due to the γ to ε martensitic transformation. The effect may not be as striking as observed in the NiTi alloy but it might become attractive from the practical point of view. In this work, two compositions of Fe-Cr-Ni-Mn-Si(-Co) stainless steel based shape memory alloy, prepared by the VIM technique, will be presented. The results are good with shape recovery of 95% for a pre-strain of 4% after some training cycles. In terms of workability the alloys produced are worse than the usual AISI304. However, adjusting the thermo-mechanical processing, it is perfectly possible to produce wire as thin as 1,20mm in dia. or down.