Purdue engineers create a metal alloy up to 10 times stronger than structural steel
Purdue University engineers redesigned a brittle cobalt aluminum compound at the nanoscale, reaching a yield strength of six gigapascals, about six to ten times that of high-strength structural steel, while still bending under pressure instead of cracking. The research was publis
Purdue University engineers led by Xinghang Zhang and Ke Xu redesigned a brittle cobalt aluminum (CoAl) intermetallic compound at the nanoscale, engineering dislocations and a framework of amorphous interfaces directly into the material during fabrication. The resulting alloy reached a yield strength of six gigapascals, roughly six to ten times that of high-strength structural steel, while sustaining fifteen percent plastic strain under compression at room temperature. The team says the approach could point toward tougher turbine blades, jet engines, and materials for aerospace, energy, and defense applications. Source: Purdue University, Science Advances.