Mechanical Properties of Nanocrystalline Materials

Abstract

An impeccable, authoritative, yet refreshingly lucid work on the development of nanocrystalline materials, this book is the first definitive step to understanding the relationship between the properties of nanomaterials and their microstructure. Thousands of papers have been published that concentrate on the comprehension of the strength and ductility of such materials in order to maximize both. Moving beyond reiterating just the strength, toughness, and stability of these materials, this compendium provides much analysis to better understand the crystal grain and grain boundary bases that determine property behaviors over a range of temperatures and applied loading rates. The original relation that connects grain size and strength, known as the Hall-Petch relation, is studied in the nanometer grain size region. The breakdown of such a relation is a challenge. Why and how to overcome it? Is the dislocation mechanism still operating when the grain size is very small, approaching the amorphous limit? How do we go from the microstructure information to the continuum description of mechanical properties? The book effectively answers these questions, besides many others that have made nanocrystalline materials an object of unprecedented interest of late.