Non-Equilibrium Alloy Phases : Processing and Properties.

本计画的目的是验证以介稳态热力学为基础的新材料发展概念。通过这种原理处理材料的经典例子是钢的淬火，其中亚稳马氏体相带来极高的硬度。淬火后铝合金的时效硬化也是可熔相的常见用途。这种亚稳相使用技术的现代例子之一是通过液体合金的快速淬火形成非晶态合金。本项目试图将这种亚稳平衡的解释扩展到更宽的范围，包括蒸汽淬火和固态反应，如机械合金化。在D.Turnbull之后，淬火的一般原理可以被称为“加热和淬火”，其中加热不一定意味着“加热”。高压、过电压、过冷、等离子体、机械变形等都可以用来生产新的合金。在本项目所建立的亚稳态平衡热力学理论指导下，科学家和工程师们正在探索无数尚未发现的新材料。

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.