Strain Rate Effect upon Mechanical Behaviour of Hydrogen-Charged Cycled NiTi Shape Memory Alloy

The rate dependence of thermo-mechanical responses of superelastic NiTi with different imposed strain rates after cycling from 1 to 50 cycles under applied 10(−5)s(−1), 10(−4)s(−1) and 10(−3)s(−1) strain rates, immersion for 3 h and ageing has been investigated. The loaded and unloaded as-received NiTi alloy under an imposed strain of 7.1% have shown an increase in the residual deformation at zero stress with an increase in strain rates. It has been found that after 13 cycles and hydrogen charging, the amount of absorbed hydrogen (291 mass ppm) was sufficient to cause the embrittlement of the tensile loaded NiTi alloy with 10(−5)s(−1). However, no premature fracture has been detected for the imposed strain rates of 10(−4)s(−1) and 10(−3)s(−1). Nevertheless, after 18 cycles and immersion for 3 h, the fracture has occurred in the plateau of the austenite martensite transformation during loading with 10(−4)s(−1). Despite the higher quantity of absorbed hydrogen, the loaded specimen with a higher imposed strain rate of 10(−3)s(−1) has kept its superelasticity behaviour, even after 20 cycles. We attribute such a behaviour to the interaction between the travelling distance during the growth of the martensitic domains while introducing the martensite phase and the amount of diffused hydrogen.