Cyclic deformation and structural fatigue behavior of an FE–Mn–Si shape memory alloy

In this work, the iron based shape memory alloy (SMA) Fe–17Mn–5Si–10Cr–4Ni–1(V,C) was investigated regarding its behavior under cyclic mechanical loading. In a first series of experiments, cyclic tensile tests were performed to characterize the material properties. In addition, the basic recovery behavior of the alloy such as recovery strain and recovery stress was characterized. Based on the obtained results, cyclic mechanical loading experiments were performed to analyze the structural fatigue behavior of the shape memory alloy with regard to its use for prestressing or coupling elements in civil and mechanical engineering, respectively. The results showed that high to low cycle fatigue transition appears at a stress significantly higher than the elastic limit of the alloy. The results can be used for the appropriate design of Fe–Mn–Si SMA elements under cyclic loading.