Large magnetostrain can be demonstrated in Ni-Mn-X (X = In, Sn, Sb) meta-magnetic shape memory alloys by resuming the predeformed martensite through magnetic-field-induced reverse martensitic transformation. However, owing to the constraint from the self-accommodated microstructure and randomly distributed crystallographic orientation, spontaneous magnetostrain without predeformation in polycrystalline alloys remains low. Here, by combining microstructure texturing and superelastic training, enhanced spontaneous magnetostrain was achieved in a directionally solidified Ni44.5Co4.9Mn37.5In13.1 alloy with strong <0 0 1>A preferred orientation. After superelastic training through cyclic compressive loading/unloading on the directionally solidified alloy, a large spontaneous magnetostrain of ~0.65% was obtained by applying a magnetic field of 5 T, showing great improvement when compared to that of the untrained situation, i.e., ~0.45%. Such enhanced magnetoresponse is attributed to the internal stress generated through superelastic training, which affects the variant distribution and the resultant output strain in association with the martensitic transformation.
Keywords: external field training; magnetostrain; magnetostructural transformation; meta-magnetic shape memory alloys; texture.