2015 Volume 56 Issue 8 Pages 1186-1191
The effects of rare earth Gd addition on the mechanical and magnetic properties of polycrystalline Ni50Mn29Ga21−xGdx (0 \leqslant x \leqslant 5) ferromagnetic shape memory alloys were investigated in detail. The results show that an appropriate amount of Gd addition significantly improves the mechanical properties of Ni-Mn-Ga alloy. When the Gd content is less than or equal to 1 at%, the compressive strength enhances rapidly as Gd addition increases, and the subsequent increase slows down when the Gd content is in the range of 2 at%-5 at%. However, the compressive strain increases firstly and then decreases obviously. The Ni50Mn29Ga20Gd1 alloy exhibits the best overall mechanical performance among the Ni50Mn29Ga21−xGdx (0 \leqslant x \leqslant 5) alloys. Moreover, Gd doping changes the fracture type of Ni-Mn-Ga alloy. The spontaneous magnetization of Ni50Mn29Ga21−xGdx alloys at 300 K and 4.2 K decreases with the increase of Gd content. The mechanism on the influence of Gd content on the mechanical and magnetic properties is discussed.
