Magneto-Mechanical Behaviour of Textured Polycrystals of NiMnGa Ferromagnetic Shape Memory Alloys

Textured polycrystalline NiMnGa alloys were prepared by directional solidification. Alloys were chosen to have either the 7M or the 5M modulated martensitic structure after proper heat treatment. Mechanical training allowed to reduce the twin boundary pinning stress to below the magnetically induced stress. Thus, magnetic field induced changes in the mechanical behaviour could be demonstrated. The conditions of preparation and mechanical training will be discussed together with their influence on structure, microstructure, and the magneto-mechanical behaviour.