Materials often fail prematurely or catastrophically under load while containing voids, posing a challenge to materials manufacturing. We found that a metal (gold) containing spherical voids with a fraction of up to 10% does not fracture prematurely in tension when the voids are shrunk to the submicron or nanometer scale. Instead, the dispersed nanovoids increase the strength and ductility of the material while simultaneously reducing its weight. Apart from the suppressed stress or strain concentration, such structure provides enormous surface area and promotes surface-dislocation interactions, which enable strengthening and additional strain hardening and thus toughening. Transforming voids from crack-like detrimental defects into a beneficial “ingredient” provides an inexpensive and environmentally friendly approach for the development of a new class of lightweight, high-performance materials.

中文翻译：

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用分散的纳米空隙强化金


材料经常在负载下过早或灾难性地失效，同时含有空隙，这对材料制造提出了挑战。我们发现，当空隙缩小到亚微米或纳米尺度时，含有比例高达 10% 的球形空隙的金属（金）不会在张力下过早断裂。相反，分散的纳米空隙增加了材料的强度和延展性，同时减轻了其重量。除了抑制应力或应变集中之外，这种结构还提供巨大的表面积并促进表面-位错相互作用，从而实现强化和额外的应变硬化，从而实现增韧。将空隙从类似裂纹的有害缺陷转变为有益的“成分”，为开发新型轻质高性能材料提供了一种廉价且环保的方法。