Abstract
Martensitic transformation results in peculiar properties of metallic materials. For instance, the effect of superelasticity allows achieving extreme reversible deformations; shape memory effect gives material the possibility to retrieve its former shape after plastic deformation.
These properties are applicable in biomedical devices or damping materials. Our work focuses on a theoretical description of martensitic transformation via continuum theory of martensite.
It allows us to describe microstructure features like twinning and martensite-austenite interfaces in given crystal structures. Continuum description of martensitic transformation is a strong instrument that suitably complements experimental results and allows us to interpret observed phenomena with greater precision.
Despite the generality of this theory, our materials of interest are metastable beta Ti-Nb-Zr based alloys that have a great potential for medical use.