New damage-tolerant metallic glass stronger and tougher than steel

16 years ago

“Glass stronger and tougher than steel? A new type of damage-tolerant metallic glass, demonstrating a strength and toughness beyond that of any known material, has been developed and tested by a collaboration of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)and the California Institute of Technology,” ScienceDaily reports. “What’s more, even better versions of this new glass may be on the way.”

“‘These results mark the first use of a new strategy for metallic glass fabrication and we believe we can use it to make glass that will be even stronger and more tough,” says Robert Ritchie, a materials scientist who led the Berkeley contribution to the research,” ScienceDaily reports. “The new metallic glass is a microalloy featuring palladium, a metal with a high ‘bulk-to-shear’ stiffness ratio that counteracts the intrinsic brittleness of glassy materials.”