Influence of boron on the microstructural and mechanical properties of Ni53.5Mn26.0Ga20.5 shape memory alloy

Boron addition to Ni53.5Mn26.0Ga20.5 alloy is found to modify the microstructure and mechanical properties substantially. Studies on (Ni53.5Mn26.0Ga20.5)Bx alloys reveal that boron addition causes grain refinement which led to an increase in compressive strength in x=0.5 alloy which also retained multimode twinning. Substantial second phase segregation rich in Ni was seen at grain boundaries, the extent of which increased with boron content. This led to a compositional shift in the matrix phase which resulted in a reduction in the martensitic transformation temperature and which in turn caused an easy deformation at low stresses and suppression of multimode twinning in x=1.0 alloy.