A Co-Ni-Ga high-temperature shape memory alloy has been additively manufactured by directed energy deposition. Due to the highly anisotropic microstructure, i.e. columnar grains featuring a strong near-⟨001⟩ texture in build direction, the as-built material is characterized by a very low degree of constraints and, thus, shows excellent superelasticity without conducting a post-process heat treatment. As characterized by in situ deformation testing and post-mortem microstructural analysis, additive manufacturing employing directed energy deposition seems to be highly promising for processing of shape memory alloys, which often suffer difficult workability. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT Impact statement The present work establishes a new pathway towards realization of high performance shape memory alloys by additive manufacturing and, thus, will stimulate further research in this field directed towards application.

Shape memory alloys (SMAs), such as Ni–Ti, are promising candidates for actuation and damping applications. Although processing of Ni–Ti bulk materials is challenging, well-established processing routes (i.e. casting, forging, wire drawing, laser cutting) enabled application in several niche applications, e.g. in the medical sector. Additive manufacturing, also referred to as 4D-printing in this case, is known to be highly interesting for the fabrication of SMAs in order to produce near-net-shaped actuators and dampers. The present study investigated the impact of electron beam powder bed fusion (PBF-EB/M) on the functional properties of C-rich Ni_50.9Ti_49.1 alloy. The results revealed a significant loss of Ni during PBF-EB/M processing. Process microstructure property relationships are discussed in view of the applied master alloy and powder processing route, i.e. vacuum induction-melting inert gas atomization (VIGA). Relatively high amounts of TiC, being already present in the master alloy and powder feedstock, are finely dispersed in the matrix upon PBF-EB/M. This leads to a local change in the chemical composition (depletion of Ti) and a pronounced shift of the transformation temperatures. Despite the high TiC content, superelastic testing revealed a good shape recovery and, thus, a negligible degradation in both, the as-built and the heat-treated state.