NEW METALLIC MATERIALS BY COMPRESSION AND SHEAR (FASENOVA)

Conventional strategies to process advanced metals include alloy design, thermomechanical processing, the fabrication of composites or a combination of all these. However, these methods have limitations. Many alloys present allotropic modifications with unique properties which are stable at extreme temperatures (either high or cryogenic) and/or high pressures and which can currently not be exploited. This project explored the possibility of stabilizing such metastable phases at room temperature and atmospheric pressure so that these materials may become available for practical applications.

IMDEA Materials researchers succeeded to stabilize w-Zr, a phase that was so far only stable at pressures higher than about 2 GPa (Pérez-Prado, Zhilyaev, Physical Review Letters 2009), as well as an hcp-Li, which had been only found to be stable at temperatures between 70 and 80 K (Srinivasarao et al. Scripta mater 2013). These metastable phases were retained under ambient conditions by the application of pressure and/or shear at room temperature.

  • IMDEA PI: Dr. M.T. Pérez Prado
  • Funding: 50.000 €
  • Duration: 2010-2011
  • Agency: Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness

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