Observation of the two-way shape memory effect in an atomistic model of martensitic transformation

Abstract

We study a system of classical particles in two dimensions interacting through an isotropic pair potential that displays a martensitic phase transition between a triangular and a rhomboidal structure upon the change of a single parameter. It has been previously shown that this potential is able to reproduce the shape memory effect and super-elasticity, among other well-known features of the phenomenology of martensites. Here, we extend those previous studies and describe the development of the more subtle two-way shape memory effect. We show that in a poly-crystalline sample, the effect is mostly due to the existence of retained martensite within the austenite phase. We also study the case of a single crystal sample where the effect is associated to particular orientations of the dislocations, either induced by training or by an ad hoc construction of a starting sample.