Mechanics of Metals with Grain Sizes Approaching the Amorphous Limit

This PECASE award studied the similarities between amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys, in terms of their structure, thermodynamics, and mechanical properties. Three task lines in alloy design and processing, characterization, and mechanical property testing and optimization, were pursued in parallel, using both experimental and theoreticalcomputation methods. The work resulted in i A new approach to control the grain size in nanocrystalline alloys, developed through the use of thermodynamic principles of metal glass formation ii identification of critical nanostructural scales at which alloys exhibit optimized properties under high-rate or impact loading conditions, and iii introduction of a practical route to optimized nanostructured alloys with scale-up potential.