AsianScientist (Jan. 25, 2019) – In a study published in Acta Materialia, researchers in Japan have explained how pearlite—one of the strongest materials in the world—can be withstand extreme weight while still being ductile.
Pearlite is made of alternating nanolayers of cementite, a compound that consists of iron and carbon, and ferrite, a ceramic material comprising a mixed oxide of iron and one or more other metals. However, until now, researchers did not know exactly how the two subcomponents worked together to give pearlite its special quality, or better yet, how to control their synergistic properties to engineer an even better material.
In this study, researchers at Kanazawa University, Japan, have discovered that dislocations in the arrangement of atoms along the interface between a cementite and a ferrite layer protect the cementite from fracturing under stretching or compression.
“The spacing between dislocations on a cementite-ferrite interface determines how deformation travels through the nanolayers,” said the authors. “We can therefore control the ductility of pearlite by manipulating the dislocation structure and the distance between dislocations.”
By varying the dislocation structures and distances at the interface of cementite and ferrite, the researchers could stop cracks from forming or spreading throughout the cementite layer, thereby increasing the overall strength of pearlite. The researchers believe that their observations are also applicable to other materials or material properties relevant to the construction industry.
The article can be found at: Shimokawa et al. (2019) Interfacial-dislocation-controlled Deformation and Fracture in Nanolayered Composites: Toward Higher Ductility of Drawn Pearlite.
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Source: Kanazawa University.
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