Influence of Gd-rich precipitates on the martensitic transformation, magnetocaloric effect, and mechanical properties of Ni–Mn–In Heusler alloys—A comparative study

A multi-stimuli cooling cycle can be used to increase the cyclic caloric performance of multicaloric materials like Ni-Mn-In Heusler alloys. However, use a uniaxial compressive stress as an additional external stimulus magnetic field requires good mechanical stability. Improvement stability and strength by doping has been shown in several studies. is always accompanied grain refinement change transition temperature. This raises question extent which related refinement, temperature, or precipitates. study shows direct comparison between single-phase Ni-Mn-Sn two-phase Gd-doped alloy with same temperature size. It that excellent magnetocaloric properties matrix are maintained doping. The isothermal entropy adiabatic reduced only 15% Ni-Mn-In-Heusler compared alloy, resulting from slight thermal hysteresis width transition. Due size this effect directly introduction Gd precipitates leads 100% improvement strength, significantly lower than observed for alloys reveals significant contribution improved refinement.