The Science Alert website reported today that a new alloy has been developed by researchers at numerous labs–including the School of Physics, University of Bristol (U.K.); the Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (U.S.); and the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales (Australia)—which has demonstrated the highest fracture toughness ever measured in a material on Earth. (https://www.sciencealert.com/this-alloy-is-the-toughest-known-material-on-earth-and-it-gets-tougher-in-the-cold )
The alloy is composed of equal amounts of chromium, cobalt, and nickel and has exceptionally high strength and ductility, leading to what a team of scientists has called “outstanding damage tolerance.” (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8070 )
As Science Alert reported: “When you design structural materials, you want them to be strong but also ductile and resistant to fracture,” says metallurgist Easo George, Governor’s Chair for Advanced Alloy Theory and Development at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, and one of the authors of the study. Normally, a metal or alloy may become stronger at a low temperature, but it will also become less malleable and more brittle. “Typically, it’s a compromise between these properties. But this material is both, and instead of becoming brittle at low temperatures, it gets tougher.” Science Alert explained, “Strength, ductility, and toughness are three properties that determine how durable a material is. Strength describes resistance to deformation. And ductility describes how malleable a material is. These two properties contribute to its overall toughness: the resistance to fracture. Fracture toughness is the resistance to further fracture in an already-fractured material.”
