Abstract
Calorimetric effects related to the propagation of phase change front in a monocrystalline sample of CuZnAl shape memory alloy were derived from thermographic data analysis. During a load-controlled test, the displacement of the front induces a creep of the sample strongly depending on thermal exchanges with the surroundings. The main role played by the thermomechanical couplings can be pointed out by reversing the heat flux at the boundary of the sample: this leads to an inversion of the front propagation way associated with a recovery of the creep strain. We propose a behavioral modelling that takes into account the thermomechanical couplings accompanying the phase transition in single-crystal CuZnAl samples. The goal of this model is to put forward the significant role played by the heat diffusion in the propagation mode of the phase change fronts. Numerical simulations show the existence of phase change fronts such as the observed ones, and give good predictions of the calorimetric and kinematic effects accompanying the propagation.