Non-Equilibrium Alloy Phases : Processing and Properties.

本项目的目的是验证基于亚稳平衡热力学的新材料开发概念。用这种哲学进行材料加工的经典例子是钢的淬火，在淬火过程中，亚稳的马氏体相导致极高的硬度。铝合金淬火后的时效硬化也是可转变相的一种常见用途。这种使用亚稳态相的技术的现代例子之一是通过液态合金的快速淬火形成非晶态合金。本项目试图更广泛地扩展对这种亚稳态平衡的解释，以包括蒸汽淬火和固态反应，如机械合金化。在D·特恩布尔之后，广义的淬火原理可以被称为“激励和淬火”，在这个原理中，激励并不一定意味着“加热”。高压、过电压、过冷、等离子体、机械变形等都将被用于生产新的合金。在这个项目中建立的亚稳态平衡的热力学原理的指导下，科学家和工程师们正在探索无限数量的尚未为科学家和工程师所知的新材料。

The purpose of this project is to veryfy the concept of new materials development based on the thermodynamics of metastable equilibrium. The classical example of the materials processing by such philosophy is the quenching of steel in which a metastable martensite phase brings about the extreme hardness. The age hardening of aluminium alloys after quenching also is a common usage of the metasltable phase. One of the modern examples of such technique of metastable phase usage is the formation of amorphous alloys by rapid quenching of liquid alloys. The present project tried to expand the interpretation of this metastable equilibria even wider to include the vapor quenching and the solid state reaction such as mechanical alloying. The generalized principle of quenching may be termed, after D.Turnbull, the "erergize and quenching", in which the energization not necessarily mean "heating". High pressure, over voltage, supercooling, plasma, mechanical defomation, etc. are all to be utilized to produce new alloys. Limitless number of new materials which have not yet been known to scientists and engineers are now being explored under the quidance of the philosohpy of the thermocynamics of metastable euquilibria established in this project.