Scientists have long understood that heating a metal softens it. But a new study shows that, counterintuitively, heat strengthens pure metal in extreme conditions. Findings could lead to better designed metals for applications in extreme conditions, including outer space.
  • Bubs@lemmy.zipEnglish
    3·
    17 hours ago

    The finding is that some metals become harder while still heated against very fast deformations.

    At everyday speeds, metals deform — meaning they bend, stretch or dent — in ways that scientists understand well. Heat helps atoms move, making metals softer and easier to shape. But when deformation happens extremely fast — in millionths or billionths of a second — those same rules no longer apply.