Role of Nickel Content in One-Way and Two-Way Shape Recovery in Binary Ti-Ni Alloys

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors aim to reveal the effect of Ni content in binary Ti-Ni alloys on one-way and two-way SMEs. Meanwhile, this work also displays the effect of grain size on the SME. However, some of the experimental results are presented simply, and there is no deeply analysis about the results. Besides, there are many confusing contents in formulation and grammar. In sum, the paper is not acceptable and suitable for “Metals” now, and the conclusion is “major revision”. Detailed comments are lists below,

1. In the “Discussion” section, the authors put forward the effect of Ni₄Ti₃ on the SME. However, in the Fig. 2, there is no obvious description about the existence of the Ni₄Ti₃. The author should pay more attention on the microstructure.
2. The authors should correct some sentences grammatically, such as

“The maximum total recovery strain e_r in equiatomic alloy reaches 15%, while in Ni-rich alloy - 20% (see Figs 5-7)”

“reaches 14% in a fine-grained (~3μ) recrystallized structure (see Fig. 5 d)”

3. In the “Discussion” section, the author think that the shape recovery strain is determined by the difference between the dislocation (conventional) and the transformation yield stress, it is necessary to present the tensile curves of the NiTi alloy wires with different component and heat treatment, and set some relationships between the yield stress and the shape memory strain.
4. It will be better to write in a same format about the, and so on.
5. The Fig. 6 is presented unclear and confusing, please revise.
6. In the “Introduction” section, “to induce SMEs, at least a single deformation is required. Various researchers use various loading modes: bending [22-25], tension [26, 27], rolling [28], torsion [29-31]”. The compressing loading is also an important to induce SME. The following additional reference will also be worth citing for enriching this sentence:

“Ultrahigh-performance TiNi shape memory alloy by 4D printing, Mater. Sci. Eng., A 763 (2019). 138166.”

“Microstructure evolution and superelasticity of Ti-24Nb-xZr alloys fabricated by spark plasma sintering, J. Alloys Compd. 823 (2020) 153875.”

“Strengthening mechanism and micropillar analysis of high-strength NiTi-Nb eutectic-type alloy prepared by laser powder bed fusion, Composites Part B: Engineering 200 (2020) 108358.”

 

Author Response

Dear Mrs. Marisa Guo,

 

Herewith, I send you a revised version of the paper entitled "ROLE OF NICKEL CONTENT IN ONE-WAY AND TWO-WAY SHAPE RECOVERY IN BINARY Ti-Ni ALLOYS” by Elena P. Ryklina^*, Kristina A. Polyakova, Sergey D. Prokoshkin (Manuscript ID: metals-1068321).

The authors are thankful to Reviewer’s valuable comments and recommendations; they are all used to revise and improve the paper for better understanding.

 

All corrections are marked with yellow.

 

See below the Reviewer’s comments together with the author’s replies.

 

Happy New Year !

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Dr. Sci. Elena Ryklina

Prof. Sergey Prokoshkin

 

 

REVIEWER: 1
Comments and Suggestions to Authors

1. 
   In the “Discussion” section, the authors put forward the effect of Ni₄Ti₃on the SME. However, in the Fig. 2, there is no obvious description about the existence of the Ni₄Ti₃. The author should pay more attention on the microstructure.

 

Authors reply:

The structure types presented in Figure 2 are well studied in cited articles 35, 40: “After aging in the range of 350-500 °C the Ti₃Ni₄ precipitates cannot be traced visually but can be interpreted using SAED [35] and X-ray analysis [40]” (see lines 113-115). Authors suppose that this information is enough because more detailed description leads to borrowing of the text from cited articles.

More detailed description concerning identification of the Ti₃Ni₄ precipitates one can find in the monograph “Ti-Ni-based Alloys with Shape Memory Effect. Part I. Structure and phase transformations. After Scientific Edition by V.G. Pushin. Ekaterinburg 2006. 440 p. (in Russian). We don’t cite this monograph in the article because it was not translated in English.

 

2. The authors should correct some sentences grammatically, such as “The maximum total recovery strain e_r in equiatomic alloy reaches 15%, while in Ni-rich alloy - 20% (see Figs 5-7)”;

“reaches 14% in a fine-grained (~3μ) recrystallized structure (see Fig. 5 d)”

 

Authors reply:

The cited sentences are corrected like that: “The maximum total recovery strain e_r reaches 15%, in equiatomic alloy and 20% in Ni-rich one (see Figs 5-7)”; (see lines 242-243);

“reaches 14% in a fine-grained (~3 μm) recrystallized alloy (see Fig. 5 d)” (see p. 5, line 173).

They are inserted in the text and marked.

 

 

3. In the “Discussion” section, the author think that the shape recovery strain is determined by the difference between the dislocation (conventional) and the transformation yield stress, it is necessary to present the tensile curves of the NiTi alloy wires with different component and heat treatment, and set some relationships between the yield stress and the shape memory strain.

 

Authors reply:

In the cited article [42] the tensile mechanical properties of Ti-Ni-based alloys with 50.0 at%Ni and 50.7 at%Ni with coarse-grained and ultrafine-grained structure were studied. In all cases (in a wide range of temperature tests) the difference between the dislocation (conventional) and the transformation yield stress (Ds) in Ni-rich alloy was higher than in equiatomic one. Thus, the results obtained in our paper confirm the correlation between Ds and shape recovery values. Consequently, there is no any necessity to carry out the “mirror-like” tensile studies.

 

4. It will be better to write in a same format about the, and so on.

Authors reply:

This recommendation is unclear for Authors

 

5. The Fig. 6 is presented unclear and confusing, please revise.

Authors reply:

The plots in Figs 6, 7 were constructed similar. Both axis are signed, the horizontal axis is logarithmic. The legend near each plot is given. All comments are given in Figure captions as well as in the text (see p. 6). Therefore Fig. 6 (as well as Fig. 7) is absolutely informative and there is no reason for misunderstanding the presented plots.

 

6. In the “Introduction” section, “to induce SMEs, at least a single deformation is required. Various researchers use various loading modes: bending [22-25], tension [26, 27], rolling [28], torsion [29-31]”. The compressing loading is also an important to induce SME. The following additional reference will also be worth citing for enriching this sentence:

1) “Ultrahigh-performance TiNi shape memory alloy by 4D printing, Mater. Sci. Eng., A 763 (2019). 138166.”

2) “Microstructure evolution and superelasticity of Ti-24Nb-xZr alloys fabricated by spark plasma sintering, J. Alloys Compd. 823 (2020) 153875.”

3) “Strengthening mechanism and micropillar analysis of high-strength NiTi-Nb eutectic-type alloy prepared by laser powder bed fusion, Composites Part B: Engineering 200 (2020) 108358.”

 

Authors reply:

The 1^st additional reference suggested by Reviewer is devoted to tensile studies: “The dog-bone shaped samples (ASTM E8/E8M) with a gauge section of 3mm in width, 2mm in thickness, and 14mm in length were cut out parallel to the x-y plane of the as-printed samples to perform room temperature tensile and SME tests…” (the citation from the section “Materials and Experimental”). Therefore we cannot cite it in the suggested context.

The 2^nd and 3^rd references are really devoted to studies under compression. The citing Nos 30, 31 are added to the text and marked with yellow: “compression [30, 31]”, see line 47. All citations and references in the range of 4-29 are respectively re-numbered and marked with yellow (in this re-numerated range the suggestions of Reviewer 2 were also taken into account). The references 30, 31 are inserted to the “References” section, see lines 421-426.

 

The authors did their best to make corrections according to Reviewer’s Comments and Suggestions. We hope that the revised paper meets the Reviewers recommendations and satisfies the editorial requirements.

 

On behalf of Authors

Dr. Sci. Elena Ryklina

Reviewer 2 Report

The munuscript "ROLE OF NICKEL CONTENT IN ONE-WAY AND TWO-WAY SHAPE RECOVERY IN BINARY Ti-Ni ALLOYS" has been reviewed. It deals with the effect of Ni content in binary alloys on the shape memory effect.

The manuscript is clear and well organized.

However some major revisions are required, as detailed in the following:

Abstract should contain information about the main finding of the manuscript. Please add!

References: 18 self-citations on 44: too high. Please limit to the strictly necessary.

Furthermore each citation shall be motivated; it is not acceptable [3-7] (line 26), [8-12] (line 31), [21-31] line 41 and so on.

Line 56, line 97, Fig. 2: "epsilon"  not "e";

Line 304: "its maximum value" not (their maximum value);

Fig. 4, Fig. 5. Please increase readibility.

 

 

 

Author Response

Dear Mrs. Marisa Guo,

 

Herewith, I send you a revised version of the paper entitled "ROLE OF NICKEL CONTENT IN ONE-WAY AND TWO-WAY SHAPE RECOVERY IN BINARY Ti-Ni ALLOYS” by Elena P. Ryklina*, Kristina A. Polyakova, Sergey D. Prokoshkin (Manuscript ID: metals-1068321).

The authors are thankful to Reviewer’s valuable comments and recommendations; they are all used to revise and improve the paper for better understanding.

 

All corrections are marked with yellow.

 

See below the Reviewer’s comments together with the author’s replies.

 

Happy New Year !

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Dr. Sci. Elena Ryklina

Prof. Sergey Prokoshkin

 

 

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The munuscript "ROLE OF NICKEL CONTENT IN ONE-WAY AND TWO-WAY SHAPE RECOVERY IN BINARY Ti-Ni ALLOYS" has been reviewed. It deals with the effect of Ni content in binary alloys on the shape memory effect.

The manuscript is clear and well organized.

However some major revisions are required, as detailed in the following:

 

 

1) Abstract should contain information about the main finding of the manuscript. Please add!

Authors reply:

The corresponding information is inserted briefly (because of the abstract limit of 200 words), see lines 18-24.

 

 

2) References: 18 self-citations on 44: too high. Please limit to the strictly necessary.

Authors reply:

2 self-citations were replaced, so in the revised version 16 self-citations on 44. All of them are really strictly necessary, because the present study continues and develops the previous ones.

 

 

3) Furthermore each citation shall be motivated; it is not acceptable [3-7] (line 26), [8-12] (line 31), [21-31] line 41 and so on.

Authors reply:

We revized citations [3-7],deleted 2 self-citations and added the new one, see line 33 [3-5]; we deleted citation [21-31] in the text, see line 49. As for citations [8-12](see [6-10] in the revised version) the authors are sure that they are absolutely motivated. They concern structural dependence of functional properties. The authors agree, that this statement is a common knowledge. To emphasize it, we cite fundamental monographs and reviews. Note, that some properties are structural independent, for example magnetic, Young's modulus etc.

All citations and references in the range of 4-29 are respectively re-numbered and marked with yellow (in this re-numerated range the suggestions of Reviewer 1 were also taken into account).

 

4) Line 56, line 97, Fig. 2: "epsilon" not "e";

Authors reply:

 

This is not “epsilon”, this is a true accumulated strain; the corresponding clarification is added into the text: “logarithmic diameter reduction (accumulated true strain) e = ln(S_O/S₁) = 0.52 where . S_O and S₁ are the wire diameter before and after cold drawing.”, see lines 63-65.

 

5). Line 304: "its maximum value" not (their maximum value);

Authors reply:

“their maximum value” refers to “specific features of the shape recovery characteristics”, therefore plural is correct. See lines 312-314.

1. The Ni content in a binary titanium nickelide strongly affects the value and specific features of the shape recovery characteristics:

- an equiatomic alloy manifests their maximum value

 

6) Fig. 4, Fig. 5. Please increase readability.

Authors reply:

The readability of Figs 4 and 5 is improved, the inscriptions and symbols are enlarged (see pp. 5 and 6 respectively).

 

The authors did their best to make corrections according to Reviewer’s Comments and Suggestions. We hope that the revised paper meets the Reviewers recommendations and satisfies the editorial requirements.

On behalf of Authors,

Dr.Sci. Elena Ryklina

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Thanks. This work can be accepted.

Reviewer 2 Report

16 self-citations on 44: too high. Please limit to strictly necessary.

Author Response

Dear Mrs. Marisa Guo,

 

Herewith, I send you a revised version of the paper entitled "ROLE OF NICKEL CONTENT IN ONE-WAY AND TWO-WAY SHAPE RECOVERY IN BINARY Ti-Ni ALLOYS” by Elena P. Ryklina*, Kristina A. Polyakova, Sergey D. Prokoshkin (Manuscript ID: metals-1068321).

The authors are thankful to Reviewer’s valuable comments and recommendations; they are all used to revise and improve the paper for better understanding.

 

All previous corrections are marked with yellow, the last corrections are marked with grey.

 

See below the Reviewer’s comments together with the author’s replies.

Sincerely yours,

 

Dr. Sci. Elena Ryklina

Prof. Sergey Prokoshkin

 

 

Comments

The munuscript "ROLE OF NICKEL CONTENT IN ONE-WAY AND TWO-WAY SHAPE RECOVERY IN BINARY Ti-Ni ALLOYS" has been reviewed. It deals with the effect of Ni content in binary alloys on the shape memory effect.

The manuscript is clear and well organized.

However some major revisions are required, as detailed in the following:

 

 

16 self-citations on 44: too high. Please limit to strictly necessary

Authors reply:

 

Ref. 5 was replaced (see lines 356-358).

References 9, 37, 39 are replaced by the new Ref. 9 (see lines 363-365).

The new Ref.38 is added (see lines 442-445).

In the final version 12 self-citations on 43.

 

Note that the remained self-citations are strictly necessary: choosing the heat treatment regimes, methods of SME inducing, description of the stuctures, discussion – are all based on the results of our previous works.

 

The deletion of self-citations did not improve the article, because 3 of them – Nos 9, 37, 39 were published in English. All of them are based on the results obtained in the new Ref. 9, which is published in Russian. There are no other articles of other authors which can be cited instead of the deleted ones.

 

English is revised and improved (see Abstract. Introduction, Materials and Methods, Conclusions).

 

The authors did their best to make corrections according to Reviewer’s Comments. We hope that the revised paper meets the Reviewers recommendations and satisfies the editorial requirements.

On behalf of Authors,

Dr.Sci. Elena Ryklina