Special Issue: Physics, Mechanics and Modeling Phase Transformations

We are pleased to present to the audience of the Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures this special issue, which started with original contributions to the 2001 ASME-ASCE-SES joint summer meeting’s special symposium on the Physics, Mechanics and Modeling of Phase Transformations. The symposium was comprised of 24 talks by researchers from all over the world. What is presented here includes a selection of eight articles from the symposium that have passed through the normal peer review process of the journal. The papers in this special issue represent a broad spectrum of the state of the art of experimental characterization and modeling for materials which undergo phase transformation, with an emphasis on materials exhibiting shape memory features. These papers include general approaches to the field theory of martensitic transformations, nonlinear dynamics of martensitic transformations, and multivariant models of phase transformations. It covers thermodynamic modeling, finite element numerical simulations and phenomenological constitutive modeling of the pseudoelastic and shape memory behavior of Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs). It further includes studies of multiaxial loading and associated transformation surfaces, as well as cyclic SMA response and studies of the response of porous SMAs. Different systems investigated include NiTi, CuZnAl, and CuAlNi, either in polycrystalline form or as single crystals. In addition to SMAs, the transformation in martensitic steels is investigated. We hope that this special issue will provide an excellent resource for the latest research trends on the modeling of phase transformations and experimental efforts as they are related to their use in engineering applications of intelligent systems. We would like to thank the authors for their contributions and the Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures for allowing us to have this special issue printed in a timely fashion.