Strain Glass and Novel Properties

Abstract

Strain glass, a conjugate state to martensite, is emerging as an important concept in our understanding of martensitic materials. It resolves many puzzling phenomena, and potentially provides a mechanism for novel properties that are absent in conventional martensitic alloys. This article reviews the progress of strain glass research from its fundamental characterization to the interesting properties to which it leads. We first give a brief introduction of the origin and evidence of strain glass, showing nano-domains as the microscopic basis for understanding its properties. Then we demonstrate that the strain glass state can exhibit many unexpected properties such as a shape-memory effect, superelasticity with a narrow hysteresis over a wide temperature range, high damping and low modulus over a wide temperature, Invar and Elinvar effects, elastocaloric effects, and low-field-triggered large magnetostriction. Lastly, some remaining challenges and opportunities, as well as some ongoing works about the strain glass are discussed.