Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
The effect of martensitic reverse transformation on recovery • recrystallization process in cold rolled Ti-Pd-Ni high temperature shape memory alloys has been investigated systematically by flash heating treatment, micro-Vickers hardness test, differential scanning calorimetry and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the temperatures of softening in hardness after flash heating treatments agree well with the reverse transformation temperatures in the present alloys, and most of the softening occurs within 60 seconds when annealing temperature is raised to above the reverse transformation temperature. We conclude that the recovery • recrystallization process is controlled by the reverse transformation. The reasons are considered based on the large difference in atomic diffusion rate in the parent phase and in the martensite.