Micromechanical analysis of precipitate effects on shape memory alloys behaviour

In this paper, we study the effect of elastic precipitates in a shape memory (SMA) alloy matrix. In the first part, we give the constitutive equations for a pure shape memory alloy single-crystal based on a micro-mechanical approach. Then, we derive a model that takes into account the presence of elastic precipitates in a single-crystal SMA matrix using the Mori–Tanaka scale transition technique. In the third part we give the associated polycristal behaviour based on a self-consistent approach. Finally, we discuss the results of the numerical computation for a Cu–Zn–Al single crystal with elastic Zr precipitates.