Explore the strength limit of metals

Metals are the major workhorse of our society and will remain so in the future. The main property limitation of metals as structural materials is their low specific strength (strength/weight ratio). The aim of this Villum Experiment is to design and synthesize a new steel with an ultrahigh strength approaching the theoretical limit ~ 8 GPa. For comparison the strongest engineering metals today are steels with a strength of 2 GPa (cables for suspension bridges) and 4.8 GPa (cords for racing car tyres). The experiment is based on a novel idea combining plastic deformation in a top‐down approach with vapor deposition in a bottom-up approach, which will allow the strengthening parameter (grain size) to vary from ~ 20 to 1 nm with an expected strength increase from 4 to 8 GPa. If successful, this method and unveiled strengthening mechanisms will improve the specific strength of metals and guide metallic components’ design for a longer service life to save energy and reduce carbon emission.