Effect of Nb Addition on Shape Memory Behavior of Ti–Mo–Ga Alloys

Effect of Nb addition on mechanical properties and shape memory behavior of Ti–Mo–Ga alloys was investigated by cyclic loading-unloading tensile tests, tensile tests at various temperatures and Vickers hardness tests. The martensitic transformation start temperature (Ms) decreased by 20 K with 1 at% increase of Nb content in the Ti–6Mo–3Ga(at%) alloy. The shape memory effect was observed in the Ti–6Mo–3Ga(at%) alloy. The superelastic strain increased with increasing Nb content. The increase of the yield stress during the cyclic deformation decreased the strain recovery rate in the Ti–6Mo–3Ga(at%) alloy. Aging at intermediate temperatures resulted in increase in hardness of the Ti–6Mo–3Ga–(0–4)Nb(at%) alloys. The increase in hardness decreased significantly with increasing Nb content because the addition of Nb was effective to suppress the ?mega phase hardening. The yield stress decreased and the strain recovery rate increased with increasing number of cycle in the Ti–6Mo–3Ga–4Nb(at%) alloy.