Deformation twinning in polycrystalline NiMnGa alloys

The texture and local orientation after compression of a NiMnGa polycrystal and a bicrystal with 5M modulated structure were measured with synchrotron radiation and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), respectively. Compression of both samples leads to motion of those twin boundaries changing the volume fraction of particular martensitic variants in such a way that the shortest axis (c-axis) becomes preferentially aligned parallel to the compression axis. EBSD directly confirms the motion of twin boundaries within individual grains.