First Bulk Nanocrystalline Metal Phase Transformations and Complex Properties Group www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans

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First Bulk Nanocrystalline MetalPhase
Transformations and Complex Properties
Groupwww.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans
Imagine a material that is cheap, can be made
large in all its three dimensions, in huge
quantities, has a nanocrystalline structure, and
does not require severe processing or dramatic
heat treatments during manufacture. This has been
achieved by developing the theory for solid-state
phase changes to create a steel which can be
transformed at incredibly low temperatures into
slender plates of bainitic ferrite, embedded in
austenite. The inset shows a typical carbon
nanotube for comparison at the same
magnification. For any scale bigger than 2 mm,
the steel is stronger than carbon nanotubes and
has remarkable ductility and toughness. More on
our world wide web site.
Micrographs Cambridge University and the Science
Museum. Inset Ian Kinloch