• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Departments
    • Aerospace Engineering
    • Bioengineering
    • Civil and Environmental Engineering
    • Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
    • Engineering Science
    • Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
    • Materials Science and Engineering
    • Mechanical Engineering
    • Nuclear Engineering
  • News
    • Berkeley Engineer magazine
    • Social media
    • News videos
    • News digest (email)
    • Press kit
  • Events
    • Events calendar
    • Homecoming
    • Cal Day
    • Commencement
    • View from the Top
    • Kuh Lecture Series
    • Minner Lecture
  • College directory
  • For staff & faculty
Berkeley Engineering

Educating leaders. Creating knowledge. Serving society.

  • About
    • Facts & figures
    • Rankings
    • Mission & values
    • Equity & inclusion
    • Voices of Berkeley Engineering
    • Leadership team
    • Milestones
    • Facilities
    • Maps
  • Admissions
    • Undergraduate admissions
    • Graduate admissions
    • Visit
    • Maps
    • Admissions events
    • K-12 outreach
  • Academics
    • Undergraduate programs
    • Majors & minors
    • Undergraduate Guide
    • Graduate programs
    • Graduate Guide
    • Innovation & entrepreneurship
    • Kresge Engineering Library
    • International programs
    • Executive education
  • Students
    • Advising & counseling
    • Programs
    • Academic support
    • Student life
    • Wellness & inclusion
    • Undergraduate Guide
    • Degree requirements
    • Forms & petitions
    • Resources
  • Research & faculty
    • Centers & institutes
    • Undergrad research
    • Faculty
  • Connect
    • Alumni
    • Industry
    • Give
    • Stay in touch
Home > News > Cool composites

Cool composites

Spring 2016 Berkeley Engineer cover
May 1, 2016
This article appeared in Berkeley Engineer magazine, Spring 2016

Polar bear origamiLike polar bears and snowmen, some things perform at their best in the cold, including CrMnFeCoNi, a metallic alloy made of chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt and nickel. Although it’s incredibly tough and strong at room temperature, the alloy actually becomes tougher and stronger the colder it gets — unlike most materials. Now, materials science professor Robert Ritchie and a team of scientists have identified the mechanisms that make it one of the toughest metallic alloys at any temperature. Using transmission electron microscopy, the researchers studied the alloy at nanoscale as it was subjected to strain. The resulting images showed how several phenomena work together to prevent damage from spreading, including structures that develop across cracks like bridges to prevent them from growing wider. Commonly seen in composites and ceramics, this bridging mechanism is unusual in unreinforced metals. Future applications may include cryogenics as well as research to design stronger, tougher metallic materials.

Topics: Materials science, Nanotechnology
  • Contact
  • Give
  • Privacy
  • UC Berkeley
  • Accessibility
  • Nondiscrimination
  • instagram
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • facebook
  • youtube
© 2023 UC Regents