The Contributions by Kazuhiro Otsuka to “Shape Memory and Superelasticity”: A Review

In this review, the research during the 50-year career in shape memory and superelasticity of Kazuhiro Otsuka is discussed, with a focus on his most cited publications. Not only did his research, in collaboration with many fellow scientists, explain the scientific basis for these phenomena, but also it has led to the realisation of a new aspect of the science of shape memory, particularly with regard to the physics of the most important Ti–Ni alloys, from the point of view of shape memory applications, as the result of the discovery of strain glass materials as a subset of shape memory behaviour for off-stoichiometric Ti50-xNi50+x compositions.