Shape-memory effects processes involved

Figure 7. Schematic illustration of the various processes involved in the shape-memory effect (After Saburi et al., 1979) (a) One - way memory...

By combining calorimetry with three-dimensional atom probe analysis, Starink and coworkers [25] examined the aging, at room-temperature, of Al-Cu-Mg-Mn alloys and found that the process is accompanied by a substantial exothermic heat evolution, whereas the only micro-structural change involved the formation of Cu-Mg co-clusters. Tatar and Zengin [26] studied the effects of neutron irradiation on the oxidation behaviour, microstructure and transformation temperatures of CuAlNiMn shape-memory alloy. They showed that irradiation... 

Other mechanisms may well apply. A different approach involving memory functions and the correlation function for the effective random forces is outlined. It is possible that a modelling of the random forces would provide a rationalization for the shape of the a-process of the supercooled liquids. 

---