GROWTH OF THERMOELASTIC MARTENSITE

The growth of thermoelastic martensite in a Cu-29% Zn-3% Al alloy has been investigated experimentally and theoretically.Metallographie observations showed that the growth oc- cured thermoelastically,i.e.reversibly,in the radial direction as well as in the thickening di- rection.This is not consistent with the theories of Conhen and some others.A model has been suggested to explain the thermoelasticity of the growth.The basic idea is:the elastic strain distribution is highly heterogeneous and the growth is controlled by the local elastic strain en- ergy at the growth frontier area.The calculated results from the model based on Eshelby's theory are consistent with the observations.