Hysteresis in shape-memory alloys

We present an overview of hysteresis phenomena in the martensitic transformation, and their relevance in the thermomechanical behaviour of shape-memory alloys. The first part of the paper introduces the concept of hysteresis, and the related phenomena of branching, dissipation and memory. The second part deals with revising some aspects of the thermomechanical behaviour of shape-memory alloys, emphasizing the hysteretic behaviour of single crystals and polycrystals under different driving conditions. The last part of the work is dedicated to the problem of modelling hysteresis phenomena in shape-memory alloys. Our focus is on phenomenological approaches which, as shown in the paper, account for the memory properties observed in hysteretic trajectories and open the possibility of deriving a generic energy balance for systems with hysteresis.