Anisotropic Negative Thermal Expansion Behavior of the As-Fabricated Ti-Rich and Equiatomic Ti–Ni Alloys Induced by Preferential Grain Orientation

The present study focuses on the anisotropic negative thermal expansion (NTE) behaviors of Ti-rich (Ti₅₄Ni₄₆) and equiatomic Ti–Ni (Ti₅₀Ni₅₀) alloys fabricated by vacuum arc melting and without subsequent plastic deformation. Both alloys exhibit NTE responses in vertical and horizontal directions, and the total strains and CTEs of the NTE stage along the two mutually perpendicular measuring directions are obviously different, indicating obvious anisotropic NTE behavior of the alloys. Besides, the numerical differences between the starting temperature of NTE and austenitic transformation and between the finishing temperature of NTE and austenitic transformation are very small, which indicates that an apparent relationship exists between the NTE behavior and the phase transformation. The microstructure in the vertical cross sections shows obviously preferential orientation characteristics: Ti₂Ni phases of both alloys grow along the vertical direction, and B19′ martensite of Ti₅₀Ni₅₀ alloy has distinct preferential orientation, which results from a large temperature gradient between the top and the bottom of the button ingots during solidification. The microstructure with preferential orientation induces the anisotropic NTE behavior of the samples.