A microstructural model of motion of macro-twin interfaces in Ni–Mn–Ga 10 M martensite

We present a continuum-based model of microstructures forming at the macro-twin interfaces in thermoelastic martensites and apply this model to highly mobile interfaces in 10 M modulated Ni–Mn–Ga martensite. The model is applied at three distinct spatial scales observed in the experiment: meso-scale (modulation twinning), micro-scale (compound a–b lamination), and nano-scale (nanotwining in the concept of adaptive martensite). We show that two mobile interfaces (Type I and Type II macro-twins) have different micromorphologies at all considered spatial scales, which can directly explain their different twinning stress observed in experiments. The results of the model are discussed with respect to various experimental observations at all three considered spatial scales.