Microstructurally stable nanocrystalline alloys

Microstructurally stable nanocrystalline alloys are alloys that are designed to resist microstructural coarsening under various thermo-mechanical loading conditions.[1][2]

Many applications of metal materials require that they can maintain their structure and strength despite very high temperatures. Efforts to prevent deformations from long term stress, referred to as creep, consist of manipulating alloys to reduce coarsening and migration of individual grains within the metal.[3]

The small size of individual metal grains provides high interfacial surface energy which is what prompts coarsening, the increase in grain size, and eventually metallic softening.[4] Nanocrystalline creep is considered to follow the Coble creep mechanism, the diffusion of atoms along grain boundaries at low stress levels and high temperatures. One method used to reduce coarsening, is by employing an alloy in which one component has good solubility with another. Since grain size decreases with high solute concentration, the rate of coarsening is slowed until inconsequential.[4]

  1. ^ Turnage, S. A.; Rajagopalan, M.; Darling, K. A.; Garg, P.; Kale, C.; Bazehhour, B. G.; Adlakha, I.; Hornbuckle, B. C.; Williams, C. L.; Peralta, P.; Solanki, K. N. (12 July 2018). "Anomalous mechanical behavior of nanocrystalline binary alloys under extreme conditions". Nature Communications. 9 (1): 2699. Bibcode:2018NatCo...9.2699T. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05027-5. PMC 6043485. PMID 30002376.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "New nanocrystalline alloy that combines mechanical strength with high-temperature creep resistance". Retrieved 2018-07-25.
  4. ^ a b Weertman, Julia R. (2012-08-24). "Retaining the Nano in Nanocrystalline Alloys". Science. 337 (6097): 921–922. Bibcode:2012Sci...337..921W. doi:10.1126/science.1226724. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 22923568. S2CID 36593516.