Strength-ductility synergy in lightweight aluminium alloys with nano-layered fibres and core-shell nano-particles

Lightweight, high-strength structural materials are component enablers in transportation and aerospace, reducing carbon footprints and enhancing fuel efficiency. Cast aluminium alloys, mainly based on eutectic compositions, make up ∼ 85% of these materials but often fail catastrophically due to inefficient load transfer across the interfaces between the brittle eutectic phase and the ductile matrix. Here, we discovered that promoting a superlattice nano-layer (SNL) around the eutectic fibres, achieved by adding Zr to an Al-Gd near-eutectic alloy, enables excellent load transfer capabilities, resulting in a ∼ 400% increase in tensile ductility. The primary α-Al matrix also contains a high number density of superlattice core-shell nano-particles. This exceptional increase in formability is attributed to the ability of the SNL to prevent dislocations from accumulating at the weak and brittle eutectic fibre/matrix interfaces, thereby avoiding stress concentrations that would otherwise initiate fibre breakage and debonding. The core-shell nano-particles in α-Al cause a large number of dislocation cross/multiple-slips on {111} planes, forming ultra-fine (∼ 12 nm) dislocation networks that leverage substantial plastic strain accumulation. This atomic interface design overcomes the ductility limitations of cast-eutectic alloys, enabling them for structural applications.