Strength at the nanoscale: fundamental mechanisms of plasticity in nano-structured materials

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Metallic alloys are useful for engineering applications largely due to their high strength. Recently, materials scientists have discovered that this strength is further enhanced by so-called "nano-structured materials". These are often the same alloys as conventional metals, but with special microstructural features refined to the nanometer-scale. One finds, however, that the primary mechanisms governing strength and ductility are different in nano-structured materials than in conventional ones. This new physics is not well understood, but occurs on length scales accessible to both modern atomistic simulation and nano-experiments. It is a unique regime where a direct link between simulation and experimentation is possible.