Steels are complex materials. There is uncertainty in the tens of thousands of solid-state phase transformations that can be engineered by altering th
Steels are complex materials. There is uncertainty in the tens of thousands of solid-state phase transformations that can be engineered by altering the chemical composition and a myriad of processing parameters. All have consequences on properties. And yet, it is this uncertainty which makes it possible to create novel steels with notorious regularity.
The speed with which new discoveries are made and implemented in the context of steels, is now greater than ever, mostly because of the development of mathematical models which in a disconnected framework are able to deal with atoms as well as giant fabricated structures. I will in this lecture illustrate how models, the ordinary scientific approach and technological innovations have combined to contribute to some of the most remarkable materials of our day. For example, a steel in which the controlling scale is that of a carbon nanotube but one which can nevertheless be made in large chunks, cheaply and reliably -- the first truly bulk nanocrystalline metal? There is the ferrous alloy which when deposited by welding cancels any residual stresses which are the curse of engineering structures. And the alloy without any microstructure, designed to resist creep over a period of 30 years.
This is a video of the Hume Rothery Lecture, delivered at Oxford University by Professor H. K. D. H. Bhadeshia
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