Mechanisms of structural evolutions associated with the high current pulsed electron beam treatment of a NiTi shape memory alloy

The aim of this study was to investigate, for the first time, the surface modifications associated with the use the recently developed high current pulsed electron beam technique for modifying the surface of an intermetallic NiTi alloy. Samples were treated with the same electron beam parameters but different numbers of pulses (i.e., five and ten pulses) and the present article concentrates on a detailed characterization of their texture and microstructure modifications. The observation of surface features such as craters, wavy surfaces with protrusions, chemistry modifications, and the development of specific texture components are discussed as the consequence of the combination of surface melting and evaporation mechanisms. It is also shown that in the subsurface, below the melted layer, the martensitic transformation was triggered due to the effects of the thermal stresses and shock waves propagating in the material.