Additive manufacturing of Ni-Mn-Sn shape memory Heusler alloy – Microstructure and magnetic properties from powder to printed parts

Franziska Scheibel, Christian Lauhoff, Philipp Krooß, Stefan Riegg, Niklas Sommer, David Koch, Konrad Opelt, Heiner Gutte, Olena Volkova, Stefan Böhm, Thomas Niendorf, Oliver Gutfleisch

Ni-Mn-Sn is an interesting material for solid-state cooling due to its multicaloric effect during the first-order magnetostructural transition. Material processing by additive manufacturing can overcome the current difficulties related to the machinability of the alloys. In our study, we investigated the chemical composition, microstructure and magnetic properties over the entire processing chain from gas-atomized powder to post-processed Ni-Mn-Sn alloy. Directed energy deposition was used for processing, which promote the development of a polycrystalline microstructure being characterized by elongated grains along the building direction. A complete and sharp martensitic transformation can be achieved after applying a subsequent heat treatment at 1173 K for 24 h.

We thank our partners from the University of Kassel, TU Freiberg and Fraunhofer IWKS for cooperation and ERC and DFG for funding.

MTLA 29, 101783 (2023),
DOI: 10.1016/j.mtla.2023.101783