Elemental partitioning-mediated crystalline-to-amorphous phase transformation under quasi-static deformation

Ge Wu; Chang Liu; Yong-Qiang Yan; Sida Liu; Xinyu Ma; Shengying Yue; Zhi-Wei Shan

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-45513-7

Elemental partitioning-mediated crystalline-to-amorphous phase transformation under quasi-static deformation

Nat Commun. 2024 Feb 9;15(1):1223. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-45513-7.

Authors

Ge Wu¹, Chang Liu², Yong-Qiang Yan³, Sida Liu⁴, Xinyu Ma⁴, Shengying Yue⁴, Zhi-Wei Shan⁵

Affiliations

¹ Center for Advancing Materials Performance from the Nanoscale (CAMP-Nano) and Hysitron Applied Research Center in China (HARCC), State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710049, Xi'an, China. gewuxjtu@xjtu.edu.cn.
² Center for Alloy Innovation and Design (CAID), State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710049, Xi'an, China.
³ Center for Advancing Materials Performance from the Nanoscale (CAMP-Nano) and Hysitron Applied Research Center in China (HARCC), State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710049, Xi'an, China.
⁴ Laboratory for multiscale mechanics and medical science, SV LAB, School of Aerospace, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
⁵ Center for Advancing Materials Performance from the Nanoscale (CAMP-Nano) and Hysitron Applied Research Center in China (HARCC), State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710049, Xi'an, China. zwshan@xjtu.edu.cn.

Abstract

The transformation induced plasticity phenomenon occurs when one phase transforms to another one during plastic deformation, which is usually diffusionless. Here we present elemental partitioning-mediated crystalline-to-amorphous phase transformation during quasi-static plastic deformation, in an alloy in form of a Cr-Ni-Co (crystalline)/Zr-Ti-Nb-Hf-Ni-Co (amorphous) nanolaminated composite, where the constitute elements of the two phases have large negative mixing enthalpy. Upon plastic deformation, atomic intermixing occurs between adjacent amorphous and crystalline phases due to extensive rearrangement of atoms at the interfaces. The large negative mixing enthalpy among the constituent elements promotes amorphous phase transformation of the original crystalline phase, which shows different composition and short-range-order structure compared with the other amorphous phase. The reduced size of the crystalline phase shortens mean-free-path of dislocations, facilitating strain hardening. The enthalpy-guided alloy design based on crystalline-to-amorphous phase transformation opens up an avenue for the development of crystal-glass composite alloys with ultrahigh strength and large plasticity.