Strain hardening capability is critical for metallic materials to achieve high ductility during plastic deformation. A majority of nanocrystalline metals, however, have inherently low work hardening capability with few exceptions. Interpretations on work hardening mechanisms in nanocrystalline metals are still controversial due to the lack of in situ experimental evidence. Here we report, by us...

A two phase microstructure, consisting of nanocrystallites surrounded by an amorphous matrix, was produced by a melt spinning processing route. Alloys of this type have extrinsic properties that are dependent on the relative amounts of the amorphous and nanocrystalline phases. One method for examination of the properties of the nanocrystalline and amorphous phases is by Mössbauer spectroscopy. ...

Nanocrystalline metals demonstrate a range of fascinating properties, including high levels of mechanical strength. However, as these materials are exposed to high temperatures, it is critical to determine the grain size evolution, as this process can drastically change the mechanical properties. In this work, nanocrystalline sputtered Cu thin films with 43 +/- 2 nm grain size were produced by ...

Large increases in the upper critical field B(C2)(0) are reported in bulk superconductors that demonstrate another novel property for nanocrystalline materials. Disordered nanocrystalline PbMo6S8 superconductors were fabricated by mechanical milling and hot isostatic pressing. Conventional PbMo6S8 has B(C2)(0) approximately 50 T. The nanocrystalline materials have higher resistivity (rho(N)) an...

The phonon density of states of nanocrystalline bcc Fe and nanocrystalline fcc Ni3Fe were measured by inelastic neutron scattering in two different ranges of energy. As has been reported previously, the nanocrystalline materials showed enhancements in their phonon density of states at energies from 2 to 15 meV, compared to control samples composed of large crystals. The present measurements wer...

In this work, thermal transport in nanocrystalline materials is studied using large-scale equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation. Nanocrystalline materials with different grain sizes are studied to explore how and to what extent the size of nanograins affects the thermal conductivity and specific heat. Substantial thermal conductivity reduction is observed and the reduction is stronger for n...

We describe a two-step dealloying/compaction process to produce nanocrystalline Au. First, nanocrystalline/nanoporous Au foam was synthesized by electrochemically driven dealloying. The resulting Au foams exhibited porosities of ∼60% with pore sizes of 40 and 100 nm and a typical grain size of <50 nm. Second, the nanoporous foams were fully compacted to produce nanocrystalline monolithic Au. Th...

The tensile properties of Mg-3%Al nanocrystalline alloys were investigated at different test environment. Bulk nanocrystalline samples of these alloy was successfully prepared by mechanical alloying (MA) followed by cold compaction, sintering, and hot extrusion process. The crystal size of the consolidated milled sample was calculated by X-Ray line profile analysis. The deformation mechanism an...

In this study, the microstructural, mechanical, adhesion, and hemocompatibility properties of nanocrystalline diamond coatings were examined. Microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) was used to deposit nanocrystalline diamond coatings on silicon (100) substrates. The coating surface consisted of faceted nodules, which exhibited a relatively wide size distribution and an average size ...

The atomistic mechanisms active during plastic deformation of nanocrystalline metals are still a subject of controversy. The recently developed approach of combining automated crystal orientation mapping (ACOM) and in situ straining inside a transmission electron microscope was applied to study the deformation of nanocrystalline Pd x Au1- x thin films. This combination enables direct imaging of...