While examining a sliver of a new aluminum alloy under an electron microscope, materials research engineer Andrew Iams noticed something unusual. At the atomic scale, the atoms were arranged in a highly irregular pattern—one that didn’t follow the typical repeating structure of most crystals. “That’s when I started to get excited,” said Iams, a materials research engineer, “because I thought I might be looking at a quasicrystal.”
His instincts were right. Iams and his colleagues at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) confirmed that the alloy contained quasicrystals, rare atomic structures that don’t repeat like conventional crystals. Even more surprising, they found that these quasicrystals actually increased the alloy’s strength. The team published their findings in the Journal of Alloys and Compounds.
The alloy had formed during metal 3D printing, a manufacturing process that uses high-powered lasers to fuse metal powder into complex shapes. Studying this material at the atomic level could lead to a new class of 3D-printed components, from aircraft parts to heat exchangers and car frames. It also opens the door to designing new aluminum alloys that intentionally incorporate quasicrystals for added strength.
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