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Amorphous

Last updated: August 25, 2017

What Does Amorphous Mean?

Amorphous means to have no consistent form. When talking about solids, amorphous is the opposite of crystalline. Whereas a crystalline solid is composed of structural patterns, an amorphous solid is not, and has a somewhat unpredictable structural composition. The atoms in an amorphous solid are organized in an irregular fashion.

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Corrosionpedia Explains Amorphous

Amorphous materials can be metallic or non-metallic. Non-metallic examples include some plastics, glass and gels. Metals tend to have a crystalline structure. Amorphous metals are more difficult to find or create. Special processes must be employed to create an amorphous metal.

Amorphous solids can have sizable differences in mechanical properties than their crystalline versions. Metals have been successfully manufactured with an amorphous structure that has higher strengths than their crystalline counterparts do. This is because amorphous metals do not have a crystalline structure; therefore, they do not have grain boundaries that often lower the strength of metals. These amorphous metals are sometimes referred to as “metal glasses.”

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