Influence of wire-drawing on the properties of a Cu–Al–Be polycrystalline shape memory alloy

In many applications, shape memory or superelastic devices are manufactured from wires. In order to optimize the material behavior and develop new applications, it is necessary to better understand the influence of drawing process parameters on the microstructure obtained at the end of the forming process. We study a polycrystalline Cu–Al–Be shape memory alloy (Ms = −130 °C). The initial wire is obtained by hot extrusion (850 °C). Its diameter is 1.8 mm. We determine the aptitude of this wire to undergo further diameter reductions according to a process temperature range running from ambient to approximately 600 °C. For the given temperature range, a same multi-pass wire-drawing process is defined such as to obtain a desired percent reduction in cross sectional area. Aim of this work is to determine the influence of the process temperature on the microstructure evolution and on the mechanical properties of the wire.