Since the reverse shape memory effect(RSME) was reported in a CuZnAl alloy, further study has been done on the mechanism of this phenomenon and reported that it occurs by the bainitic transformation. But the present authors revealed in the previous work that the RSME in a B2 CuZnAl alloy is not caused by the shear process involved in the bainitic transformation and also that the RSME takes place as the remaining ${\alpha}^{\prime}{_2}$ phase, which is two-step transformed strain induced martensite, is newly transformed into ${\alpha}$ phase. In order to provide further evidence in supporting the facts, thus, more detailed investigations have been carried out in a $DO_3$ CuZnAl alloy.

The tempering behavoirs of 0.45% carbon steel treated by automatic progressive high frequency induction hardening equipment have been investigated. In order to examine the correlation of hardness with both tempering temperature and time, simple regression analysis has been made using the statistical quality control package. The maximum surface hardness value of induction hardened zone and its effective hardening depth have been determined to be Hv 810 and 0.76mm, respectively. The hardness obtained after tempering has been shown to vary lineary with tempering time at six different temperatures. The activation energies during tempering have been calculated to be 25.34kcal/mole, 32.73kcal/mole and 49.24kcal/mole for HRcs 60, 50 and 40, respectively, showing that tempering process occurs by a complex mechanism, The tempering hardness equation of $H=90.113{\sim}4.531{\times}10^{-3}$ [T(11.996+log t)] has proved to be in a reasonably good agreement with experimently determined data and it is also expected to be useful for the determination of tempering treatment conditions to obtain a required hardness value.

This investigation has been carried out to make clear the effect of deformation temperature, strain rate and grain size on the tensile properties of 304L stainless steel. Tensile properties of the metastable austenitic 304L steel remarkably influenced by deformation temperature. Tensile strength increased with decreasing deformation temperature and the elongation showed maximum value near $40^{\circ}C$. In order to obtain the high elongation, a large amount of deformation is available in austenite before martensitic transformation and the martensite has to be induced gradually. Tensile strength and elongation increased with decreasing grain size. The temperature representing the maximum elongation shifted to low temperature and the peak width of elongation became broaden with decreasing austenite grain size. The volume fraction of strain induced martensite decreased with decreasing austenite grain size. As the strain rate increase, the temperature representing the maximum elongation value shifted to high temperature and volume fraction of strain induced martensite decreased.

For the accurate measurements of hardness in a material, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of the effects of test variables on the accuracy of hardness value. For the rebound hardness test, major test variables are the radius of hammer ball tip, type of backing materials, size and roughness of the specimen. In this study, effects of these variables on Equo-Tip hardness value were investigated. Hardness measurements were carried out using WC balls with various sizes of worn-ot zone. The sample materials chosen for the experiments were commercial standard hardness blocks and SM45C steel bars subjected to either normalization or quench and temper treatments. As backing materials, aluminum, steel and rubber plates were used in all the experiments. Experimental results show that for the accurate measurements of Equo-tip hardness, it is necessary to use the hammer ball with a worn-out zone parameter of less than 0.23, and the recommended minimum thickness and width of the specimen are 25mm and 70mm, respectively. Further for the surface preparation, the specimens need to be polished with an emery paper of No. 400 or finer, and for the backing matrials, it is recommended to use steels or rubbers.

The effect of the microstructural change on the near threshold fatigue crack growth rate in SM40C steel has been studied using the ${\Delta}K$ decreasing method. Below the total strain amplitude of 0.56%, cyclic softening occured, whereas above this value cyclic hardening occurred in the pearlitic lamellar structure. However, in the spherodized structure the cyclic hardening solely occurred. The crack growth rate in the near-threshold region was decreased with increasing prior austenite grain size and this was due to surface roughness. The crack growth rate of the spherodized structure was lower than that of the pearlite lamellar structure and the ${\Delta}K_{th}$ of the former was higher than that of the latter. It was understood that the crack propagates preferentially through the ferrite phase. The intergranular facets in the near-threshold region appeared in the spherodized structure.