There are three inherent length scales associated with the shape memory phenomena. At the continuum length scale, we can describe the global response of a shape memory material in a phenomenological sense. At the other end, in the atomic length scale, the motion of atoms (diffusionless, in this case) causing the phase change can be studied by experiments (both physical and numerical). In between the two length scales lies the mesoscopic length scale wherein the microstructure is the dominating material feature. In order to study the phase transformation and the associated microstructure at this scale, we adopt a recently proposed technique called the quasicontinuum method. This technique marries the continuum and atomic length scales.
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