High-entropy materials have attracted considerable interest due to the combination of useful properties and promising applications. Predicting their formation remains the major hindrance to the ...discovery of new systems. Here we propose a descriptor-entropy forming ability-for addressing synthesizability from first principles. The formalism, based on the energy distribution spectrum of randomized calculations, captures the accessibility of equally-sampled states near the ground state and quantifies configurational disorder capable of stabilizing high-entropy homogeneous phases. The methodology is applied to disordered refractory 5-metal carbides-promising candidates for high-hardness applications. The descriptor correctly predicts the ease with which compositions can be experimentally synthesized as rock-salt high-entropy homogeneous phases, validating the ansatz, and in some cases, going beyond intuition. Several of these materials exhibit hardness up to 50% higher than rule of mixtures estimations. The entropy descriptor method has the potential to accelerate the search for high-entropy systems by rationally combining first principles with experimental synthesis and characterization.
While the ongoing search to discover new high-entropy systems is slowly expanding beyond metals, a rational and effective method for predicting “in silico” the solid solution forming ability of ...multi-component systems remains yet to be developed. In this article, we propose a novel high-throughput approach, called “LTVC”, for estimating the transition temperature of a solid solution: ab-initio energies are incorporated into a mean field statistical mechanical model where an order parameter follows the evolution of disorder. The LTVC method is corroborated by Monte Carlo simulations and the results from the current most reliable data for binary, ternary, quaternary and quinary systems (96.6%; 90.7%; 100% and 100%, of correct solid solution predictions, respectively). By scanning through the many thousands of systems available in the AFLOW consortium repository, it is possible to predict a plethora of previously unknown potential quaternary and quinary solid solutions for future experimental validation.
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Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is one of the primary tools for crystal structure determination. However, this method requires human input to select potential phases for Hough-based or ...dictionary pattern matching and is not well suited for phase identification. Automated phase identification is the first step in making EBSD into a high-throughput technique. We used a machine learning-based approach and developed a general methodology for rapid and autonomous identification of the crystal symmetry from EBSD patterns. We evaluated our algorithm with diffraction patterns from materials outside the training set. The neural network assigned importance to the same symmetry features that a crystallographer would use for structure identification.
Novel Ceramic-Fiber-Reinforced-Metal-Intermetallic-Laminate (CFR-MIL) composites, Ti–Al3Ti–Al2O3–Al, were synthesized by reactive foil sintering in air. Microstructure controlled material ...architectures were achieved with continuous Al2O3 fibers oriented in 0° and 90° layers to form fully dense composites in which the volume fractions of all four component phases can be tailored. Bend fracture specimens were cut from the laminate plates in divider orientation, and bend tests were performed to study the fracture behavior of CFR-MIL composites under three-point and four-point bending loading conditions. The microstructures and fractured surfaces of the CFR-MIL composites were examined using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to establish a correlation between the fracture toughness, fracture surface morphology and microstructures of CFR-MIL composites. The fracture and toughening mechanisms of the CFR-MIL composites are also addressed. The present experimental results indicate that the fracture toughness of CFR-MIL composites determined by three- and four-point bend loading configurations are quite similar, and increased significantly compared to MIL composites without ceramic fiber reinforcement. The interface cracking behavior is related to the volume fraction of the brittle Al3Ti phase and residual ductile Al, but the fracture toughness values appear to be insensitive to the ratio of these two phases. The toughness appears to be dominated by the ductility/strength of the Ti layers and the strength and crack bridging effect of the ceramic fibers.
High-entropy ceramics have potential to improve the mechanical properties and high-temperature stability over traditional ceramics, and high entropy nitrides and carbonitrides (HENs and HECNs) are ...particularly attractive for high temperature and high hardness applications. The synthesis of 5 bulk HENs and 4 bulk HECNs forming single-phase materials is reported herein among 11 samples prepared. The hardness of HENs and HECNs increased by an average of 22% and 39%, respectively, over the rule-of-mixtures average of their monocarbide and mononitride precursors. Similarly, elastic modulus values increased by an average of 17% in nitrides and 31% in carbonitrides over their rule-of-mixtures values. The enhancement in mechanical properties is tied to an increase in the configurational entropy and a decrease in the valence electron concentration, providing parameters for tuning mechanical properties of high-entropy ceramics.
Metallic–Intermetallic Laminate composites of Fe/Al, 430-SS/Al, 304-SS/Al were fabricated and investigated for the microstructure evolution, growth kinetics and microhardness distribution across the ...intermetallic/metal interfaces. Fe2Al5 phase was formed as dominant phase in the intermetallic layer of the Fe/Al MIL composites with parabolic growth rate behavior. A multilayer structure (namely a uniform layer and a eutectic layer) with a complex mix of intermetallic phases (Fe2Al5, Fe4Al13, Cr2Al13, Al5.5Cr1.95Fe2.55 and Al9Ni1.9Fe0.1) form in the Fe-alloy/Al MIL composites. The growth of the multilayers in the Fe-alloy/Al reaction can be described as a mixed kinetic growth mechanism that is diffusion controlled growth in the uniform layer, while it is interface controlled growth in the eutectic layer. The growth activation energies of Fe/Al, 430-SS/Al, 304-SS/Al reactions are 150KJmol−1, 200KJmol−1 and 220KJmol−1, respectively. The calculated intermetallic yield rate for pure Fe/Al, 430-SS/Al and 304-SS/Al MIL composites are 1.21, 1.16 and 1.10, respectively, which proved to be reliable for predicting the final intermetallic layer thickness in Fe-based MIL composites.
Deep learning is quickly becoming a standard approach to solving a range of materials science objectives, particularly in the field of computer vision. However, labeled datasets large enough to train ...neural networks from scratch can be challenging to collect. One approach to accelerating the training of deep learning models such as convolutional neural networks is the transfer of weights from models trained on unrelated image classification problems, commonly referred to as transfer learning. The powerful feature extractors learned previously can potentially be fine-tuned for a new classification problem without hindering performance. Transfer learning can also improve the results of training a model using a small amount of data, known as few-shot learning. Herein, we test the effectiveness of a few-shot transfer learning approach for the classification of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) pattern images to six space groups within the Formula: see text point group. Training history and performance metrics are compared with a model of the same architecture trained from scratch. In an effort to make this approach more explainable, visualization of filters, activation maps, and Shapley values are utilized to provide insight into the model's operations. The applicability to real-world phase identification and differentiation is demonstrated using dual phase materials that are challenging to analyze with traditional methods.
The nature of dislocation generation as a function of applied plastic strain in quasi-statically compressed polycrystalline pure nickel has been studied experimentally at ambient temperature. First, ...to ensure representative datasets of the geometrically-necessary dislocation densities (ρGND) associated with non-uniform plastic deformation, measurements over large (several millimeter square) areas were made using Hough-based EBSD methods. In addition, the total dislocation density (ρT) responsible for the overall work hardening is estimated from the measured flow stress based on Taylor's hardening model. Next, the statistically stored dislocation (SSD) density (ρSSD) is calculated by subtracting the GND density from the total dislocation density. The results demonstrate that in quasi-statically deformed nickel: i) the measured GND density varies linearly as a function of plastic strain in the range between 0.05 and 0.46; although Ashby's model predicts linearity for GND density evolution over entire range of strains, this study does not cover strains below 0.05; ii) the SSD density increases at a rate much faster than GND density; and iii) the SSD density exceeds the GND density at above 0.09 plastic strain. Both i) and ii) are in agreement with Ashby's prediction, while the magnitudes of GND density (iii) differ from Ashby's model prediction, particularly at large applied strains. Overall, this study enables the interplay of GNDs and SSDs in the hardening of nickel to be gleaned in a quantitative sense. This study illustrates that GNDs are the more important for the strength of polycrystalline metals in the early stages of work hardening, whereas SSDs contribute more to the strength at larger strains. Over the range of strain in this study, work hardening is predominantly through rapid multiplication of SSDs; whereas the GND density is initially higher than SSD density at 0.05 probably due to non-linear evolution of GNDs at low strains (<0.05), which will be the subject of future investigation.
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•Novel remapping method based on multiresolution demons registration results in phantom stress/strain around 35 MPa and 2 × 10–4 under lattice rotation of up 0.175 rad or higher.•Iterative demons ...registration to extract remapping rotation matrix from a pair of diffraction patterns can be accelerated with GPU to less than 1 s.•Angular resolution of the demons registration remapping is improved compared to conventional cross-correlation type remapping at misorientation > 0.157 rad.•Additively manufactured Inconel 625 has significant residual stress build up in the columnar grain region and dislocation substructures.
In this study, the possibility of utilizing a computer vision algorithm, i.e., demons registration, to accurately remap electron backscatter diffraction patterns for high resolution electron backscatter diffraction (HR-EBSD) applications is presented. First, the angular resolution of demons registration is demonstrated to be lower than the conventional cross-correlation based method, particularly at misorientation angles >0.157 rad. In addition, GPU acceleration has been applied to significantly boost the speed of iterative registration between a pair of patterns with 0.175 rad misorientation to under 1 s. Second, demons registration is implemented as a first-pass remapping, followed by a second pass cross-correlation method, which results in angular resolution of ~0.5 × 10−4 rad, a phantom stress value of ~35 MPa and phantom strain of ~2 × 10−4, on dynamically simulated patterns, without the need of implementing robust fitting or iterative remapping. Lastly, the new remapping method is applied to a large experimental dataset collected from an as-built additively-manufactured Inconel 625 cube, which shows significant residual stresses built-up near the large columnar grain region and regularly arranged GND structures.
In this paper, a systematic approach is presented to quantifying shear band evolution by quantifying geometrically necessary dislocations (GND) associated with morphological anisotropy in ...7039-aluminum alloy using the compact forced-simple shear (CFSS) design. A statistically motivated approach, i.e. the line averaged GND density profile, has been developed to investigate the GND density near heavily deformed, shear band regions. Our study shows that: i) line average GND density profiles for the Al samples machined in the A-direction (transverse to pancake-shaped grains), B-direction (parallel to longitudinal pancake-shaped grains, shearing in through-thickness direction), C-direction (parallel to pancake-shaped grains, shearing in the in-plane direction) and D-direction (parallel and through the pancake-shaped grains) are nominally similar; ii) apart from 7039-aluminum alloy C-direction that has a uniform GND distribution in the direction normal to shear due to a grain-sliding mechanism, GND profiles for other samples decrease steadily away from the shear band as plastic strain diminishes, in agreement with Ashby's theory of work hardening, iii) anisotropy in damage evolution and shear-stress shear-strain response of 7039-aluminum alloy is associated with the grain structure of the material, i.e. morphological anisotropy creating variations in grain boundary interactions; iv) microbands formation in D-direction is associated with local GND peaks; v) stress-relief crack propagating along grain boundaries due to the presence of voids or inclusions generates a ‘shielding effect’ on neighboring grains; and vi) the line average GND density profile within a single grain usually varies inversely with the width of the grain for A-, B- and D-directions, leading to generally pronounced higher GND density near triple junctions.
The influence of grain morphology on shear band propensity in 7039-Al alloy with shear zone aligned in the A-, B-, C-, and D-directions is identified by EBSD maps and geometrically-necessary analysis. Rows: 1st, A; 2nd, B; 3rd, C; 4th, D. Columns: 1st, EBSD image plotted with MTEX with selected example region showing the GND density map (Scale bar: 100 μm); 2nd, total GND density map of the selected region (log10 scale, unit: 1/cm2) with 20 μm scale bar; 3rd, GND density map of edge type dislocations (log10 scale, unit: 1/cm2) with 20 μm scale bar; 4th, GND density map of screw type dislocations (log10 scale, unit: 1/cm2) with 20 μm scale bar. Display omitted