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Nanostructured metals

Retaining ductility

Structural applications of nanostructured metals often require both high strength and good ductility. But although these metals usually have high strength, their ductility is often too low. New experimental work suggests that it is possible to retain the ductility of metals after nanostructuring by activating certain deformation mechanisms.

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Figure 1: Normalized yield strength versus percentage elongation (ductility) for nanostructured metals.

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Zhu, Y., Liao, X. Retaining ductility. Nature Mater 3, 351–352 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1141

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