本文探讨了材料科学中屈服点的关键概念，特别是针对非晶材料如玻璃。研究通过X射线照射诱导锗-硒玻璃的屈服，精确控制和测量应力与应变，深入研究了弹性到塑性形变的转变过程。研究结果揭示了玻璃在X射线照射下的稳定性，为开发耐辐射玻璃材料提供了新思路，并深化了对无序材料屈服机制的理解，对航空航天、核能等领域具有潜在应用价值。

🔬 屈服点是材料从弹性形变到塑性形变转变的关键临界点。在屈服点以下，材料在应力移除后能恢复原状；超过屈服点，形变则变为永久性。

💡 研究采用X射线照射的方法诱导锗-硒玻璃的屈服。这种方法能够精细控制弹塑性转变，从而系统地研究塑性形变的起始。

✅ 研究发现，通过X射线处理的玻璃对进一步的辐射具有稳定性。这一特性在航天任务或核设施等高辐射环境中具有潜在优势。

📚 这项研究不仅提供了对无序材料屈服基本物理学的新见解，也为设计耐辐射玻璃材料开辟了潜在途径。

In materials science, the yield point represents a critical threshold where a material transitions from elastic to plastic deformation. Below this point, materials like glasses can return to their original shape after stress is removed. Beyond it, however, the deformation becomes permanent, reflecting irreversible changes in the material’s internal structure. Understanding this transition is essential for designing materials that can withstand mechanical stress without failure, an important consideration in fields such as civil engineering, aerospace and electronics.

Despite its importance, the yield point in amorphous materials like glasses has remained difficult to study due to the challenges in precisely controlling and measuring the stress and strain required to trigger it. Traditional mechanical testing methods often lack the resolution needed to observe the subtle atomic-scale changes that occur during yielding.

In this study, the authors present a novel approach using X-ray irradiation to induce yielding in germanium-selenium glasses. This method allows for fine-tuned control over the elasto-plastic transition, enabling the researchers to systematically investigate the onset of plastic deformation. By combining experimental techniques with theoretical modelling, they characterize both the thermodynamic behaviour and the atomic-level structural and dynamical responses of the glasses during and after irradiation.

One of the key findings is that glasses processed through this method become stable against further irradiation, an effect that could be highly beneficial in environments with high radiation exposure, such as space missions or nuclear facilities. This work not only provides new insights into the fundamental physics of yielding in disordered materials but also opens up potential pathways for engineering radiation-resistant glassy materials.

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Theories of glass formation and the glass transition by J S Langer (2014)

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