Engineers from the University of Pittsburgh have used a Dynamic Transmission Electron Microscope to view the phase changes in aluminum alloys. The scale at which the observations are made can pin-point atoms as the materials go from solid to liquid and liquid to gas under different environmental situations. Data garnered by the engineering team will help better model the properties of these alloys for manufacturers and engineered material designers.
Prior to the advent of the DTEM, we could only simulate these transformations on a computer. We hope to discover the mechanisms of how alloy microstructures evolve during solidification after laser melting by direct and locally resolved observation.
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