Effect of the Mn Amount on the Structural, Thermal, and Magnetic Properties of Rapidly Solidified (87-x)Cu-13Al-xMn (wt.%) Alloy Ribbons

Abstract

In this study, rapidly solidified Cu-Al-Mn ribbons containing 13% Al and 1-14% Mn alloying element by weight were produced by melt spinning method. The structural, thermal, and magnetic properties of produced ribbons were investigated. The parent phase was β1’ martensite for melt-spun ribbons containing Mn amount 1-4%, whereas Cu2AlMn cubic phase for melt-spun ribbons containing Mn amount 7-14%. The microstructures of produced Cu-13Al-1Mn, Cu-13Al-2Mn, Cu-13Al-3Mn, and Cu-13Al-4Mn melt-spun ribbons were consisted of a martensite plate and grain. In addition to this, there were coaxial and equaxial shaped Cu2AlMn phase grains in Cu-13Al-7Mn, Cu-13Al-9Mn, Cu-13Al-11Mn, and Cu-13Al-14Mn melt-spun ribbons. It was observed homogeneous elemental distribution in all ribbons containing different Mn amount. The phase transformation temperatures changed with Mn amount. Austenite-martensite and martensite-austenite phase transformation temperatures decreased with increasing Mn content, while Curie temperatures increased very little with increasing Mn content. Two-way shape memory property was observed for ribbons containing 4 wt.% Mn or less. The magnetic memory effect occurred in the ribbons contains high Mn. The saturation value increased with increasing Mn amount in the produced ribbons.