A New Hysteretic Behavior in the Electrical Resistivity of Flexinol Shape Memory Alloys Versus Temperature

The electrical resistivity (ER) of Flexinol nickel-titanium shape memory alloys (SMA) has been measured in the range from −15 to 105°C. The investigated Flexinol wires have two diameters, 150 and 375 μm. The experimental results show new temperatures of phase transformation (TTR) evidencing the unexpected presence of the R-phase. The transformations from austenite to martensite, from austenite to R-phase, and vice versa are simultaneous. In the range [20 to 110°C] the hysteresis is almost negligible, whereas in the range [−15 to 105°C] the accommodation process of the hysteresis is observed.