Niobium-titanium alloys resist cracking at −424°F

An international team led by UC Berkeley, Berkeley Lab and the University of Oxford found that experimental niobium-titanium-based alloys stay damage-tolerant at 20 kelvin (−253 °C) with no measurable ductile-to-brittle transition. Nanoscale twinning and local phase transformation generate new dislocations at grain boundaries. The results appear in Nature.

• Alloys withstood 20 K (−424°F) without measurable brittle transition
• Tests used the Engin-X neutron beam at ISIS Neutron and Muon Source
• Toughening comes from nanoscale twinning and local crystal transformation
• Target uses: energy, transportation and aerospace in extreme cold