| Abstract Scope |
Ceramics are an integral part of the modern world, but their usefulness is limited due to their characteristic elastic brittle fracture at room temperature. As an exception to the rule, recent discovery showed that amorphous aluminum oxide (a-Al2O3) is a rare diatomic glassy material exhibiting significant nanoscale plasticity at room temperature. Later, the discovery was expanded to show that room temperature plasticity of a-Al2O3 extends to the microscale and high strain rates associated with impact-type loading, such as hammer forging. Large-scale molecular dynamics simulations and finite element simulations have aligned with the main experimental observations and have unraveled the mechanisms driving plasticity. Recent advances include evidence of microscale bending plasticity, and discovery of similar plastic-forming ability in amorphous Ga2O3. Such materials have significant potential to be used as light, high-strength, and damage-tolerant engineering materials, for example to induce a leap in the damage-tolerance of smart devices and foldable touch screens. |