Reconstructive Martensitic Phase Transitions: Intermittency, Anti-Transformation, Plasticity, Irreversibility

Abstract We study the mechanics of temperature-driven reconstructive martensitic transformations in crystalline materials, within the framework of nonlinear elasticity theory. We focus on the prototypical case of the square–hexagonal transition in 2D crystals, using a modular Ericksen–Landau-type strain energy whose infinite and discrete invariance group originates from the full symmetry of the underlying lattice. In the simulation of quasi-static thermally-driven transitions, we confirm the role of the valley-floor network in establishing the strain-field transition-pathways on the symmetry-molded strain energy landscape of the crystal. We also observe the phase change to progress through abrupt microstructure reorganization via strain avalanching under the slow driving. We reveal at the same time the presence of assisting anti-transformation activity, which locally goes against the overall transition course. Both transformation and anti-transformation avalanches exhibit Gutenberg–Richter-like heavy-tailed size statistics. A parallel analysis shows agreement of these numerical results with their counterparts in empirical observations on temperature-induced martensitic transformations. The simulation furthermore shows that, in the present case of a reconstructive transformation, strain avalanching mostly involves lattice-invariant shears (LIS). As a consequence, microstructure evolution is accompanied by slip-induced defect nucleation and movement in the lattice. LIS activity also leads to the development of polycrystal grain-like lattice-homogeneity domains exhibiting high boundary segmentation in the body. All these effects ultimately lead to transformation irreversibility.