Hysteresis in a system driven by either generalized force or displacement variables:: Martensitic phase transition in single-crystalline Cu-Zn-Al

We report on experiments aimed at comparing the hysteretic response of a Cu-Zn-Al single crystal undergoing a martensitic transition under strain-driven and stress-driven conditions. Strain-driven experiments were performed using a conventional tensile machine while a special device was designed to perform stress-driven experiments. Significant differences in the hysteresis loops were found. The strain-driven curves show reentrant behavior (yield point) which is not observed in the stress-driven case. The dissipated energy in the stress-driven curves is larger than in the strain-driven ones. Results from recently proposed models qualitatively agree with experiments.