Non-equilibrium synthesis of new materials

Abstract

Over the last few decades it has become apparent that metallic materials produced by conventional casting processes have reached their limit. Some improvements have been obtained by rapidly cooling bulk alloys but major increases have required the development of rapid solidification processes. However, more radical approaches, such as mechanical alloying (MA) and physical vapour deposition (PVD), are also being explored and these are the subject of this paper. This paper describes the physical basis behind the development of MA and PVD in the Structural Materials Centre and presents the results of some materials development programmes on aluminium, magnesium and titanium based materials.