Alloy material is made of two or more than two metals and metal or non-metal by certain methods. Generally, it is obtained by melting homogeneous liquid and solidifying. According to the number of constituent elements, it can be divided into two element alloy, three element alloy and multi-component alloy material.
Human production of alloy materials is from the production of bronze, the world's earliest production of alloy material is the Cuban Babylonians, 6000 years ago, the Cuban Babylonians have begun to extract bronze (red copper and tin alloy material). China was also one of the earliest countries in the world to study and produce alloy materials. In the Shang Dynasty (3000 years ago) bronze (copper and tin alloy materials) had been developed very well; the sharp sword had been forged in the late sixth Century B.C. (late spring and Autumn).
Alloy materials are macroscopically homogeneous and contain many metal elements. All elements can be used as alloy elements, but a large number of them are still metals. The most basic and independent material constituent of an alloy is called component, or abbreviated as element. The alloy material consisting of two components is called a two element alloy material. The alloy material consisting of three components is called a three element alloy material. The alloy material consisting of more than three components is called a multi alloy material. In solid state, the alloy may be a mixture of single phase or multiphase, which may be crystalline or may be quasicrystal or amorphous. According to the difference of atomic radius, negative electricity and electron concentration of its constituent elements in crystalline alloy materials, the possible phase has a solid solution (solid solution) with the same structure as the pure base element and the intermediate phase (inter-mediate phases) that does not have the same structure as any of the elements. Mesophase includes normal valence compound, electronic compound, Laves phase, sigma phase, interstitial phase and complex structure interstitial compounds. The phase of the alloy material in equilibrium state can be known from the phase equilibrium diagram.
The structure and properties of the phase in the alloy play a decisive role in the properties of the alloy material. At the same time, the changes in the relative number of phase in the alloy material, the size, shape and distribution of the alloy materials have a great influence on the properties of the alloy materials. Therefore, the combination of various elements can be used to form various phases of alloy materials. After proper treatment, various performance requirements may be met.
The term "alloy material" is also used in high molecular chemistry, which refers to the combination of polymers or copolymers with another polymer or elastomer under certain conditions, such as styrene propene acrylonitrile copolymer resin and butadiene acrylonitrile rubber.