Inspired by the gradient structures of biological materials, researchers have explored
compositional and structural gradients for about 40 years as an approach to enhance the …

Gradient structures found in biological materials have served as a source of inspiration for
scientists seeking to enhance the performance of metals and alloys over the past decades …

INTRODUCTION Gradient structures ubiquitously exist in natural materials such as bone,
shells, and trees. Microstructural gradients are increasingly being introduced into a wide …

Gradient nano-grained (GNG) metals are a unique class of materials with spatial gradients
in grain size, typically from the surface to the bulk. Here the gradient mechanical behavior in …

Nanostructured (NS) metals typically fail soon after yielding, starting with the formation of
narrow shear bands. Here we report the observation of shear band delocalization in …

Conventional polycrystalline metals become stronger with decreasing grain size, yet
softening starts to take over at the nanometer regime, giving rise to the strongest size at …

This chapter reports the discovery of a hitherto unknown strain hardening mechanism, which
is intrinsic to the gradient structure in an engineering material. The gradient structure shows …

Gradient nanostructured (GNS) metals exhibit high overall extra strengths relative to their
non-gradient counterparts. However, the spatial distribution of local extra strengths …

Gradient structured (GS) materials are ubiquitous in biological systems and now
increasingly adopted in engineering systems to achieve desirable combinations of …

Materials containing heterogeneous nanostructures hold great promise for achieving
superior mechanical properties. However, the strengthening effect due to plastically …