Abstract
Sometimes, a combination of deep knowledge, serendipity and perseverance can lead to developments that set aside decades of attempts. The story of the world’s first bulk nanostructured metal is an example of this. The phase change that led to the material was, back in the 1970s, so controversial that textbooks of the time would not dare to venture opinions. The subject has calmed over a period of about half a century, so much so that the theory can be used to create materials that fire the imagination. The story is illustrated here.
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Notes
- 1.
The argument here is that bottled water is not essential and yet we buy it, so therefore it is affordable.
- 2.
It is simple to make incredibly strong materials but difficult to make them tough at the same time. Toughness is a reflection of the energy that a material can absorb prior to fracture. A high toughness makes the material safer to use. A typical engineering ceramic would have a toughness of just 3 MPa m1∕2 which is why ceramics cannot be used in components that are subjected to tension.
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DebRoy, T., Bhadeshia, H.K.D.H. (2021). First Bulk Nanostructured Metal. In: Innovations in Everyday Engineering Materials. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57612-7_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57612-7_8
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