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Alloy design for mechanical properties: Conquering the length scales

  • Computational Design And Development Of Alloys
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Abstract

Predicting the structural response of advanced multiphase alloys and understanding the underlying microscopic mechanisms that are responsible for it are two critically important roles that modeling plays in alloy development. The demonstration of superior properties of an alloy, such as high strength, creep resistance, high ductility, and fracture toughness, is not sufficient to secure its use in widespread applications. Still, a good model is needed to take measurable alloy properties, such as microstructure and chemical composition, and forecast how the alloy will perform in specified mechanical deformation conditions, including temperature, time, and rate. Here, we highlight recent achievements using multiscale modeling in elucidating the coupled effects of alloying, microstructure, and mechanism dynamics on the mechanical properties of polycrystalline alloys. Much of the understanding gained by these efforts relies on the integration of computational tools that vary over many length scales and time scales, from first-principles density functional theory, atomistic simulation methods, dislocation and defect theory, micromechanics, phase-field modeling, single crystal plasticity, and polycrystalline plasticity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

    Irene J. Beyerlein

  2. California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

    Shuozhi Xu

  3. IMDEA Materials Institute, and Department of Materials Science, Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain

    Javier Llorca

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, USA

    Jaafar A. El-Awady

  5. Microstructure Physics and Alloy Design, Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Germany

    Jaber R. Mianroodi & Bob Svendsen

  6. Material Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Germany

    Bob Svendsen

Authors
  1. Irene J. Beyerlein
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  2. Shuozhi Xu
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  3. Javier Llorca
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  4. Jaafar A. El-Awady
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  5. Jaber R. Mianroodi
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  6. Bob Svendsen
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Correspondence to Irene J. Beyerlein.

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Beyerlein, I.J., Xu, S., Llorca, J. et al. Alloy design for mechanical properties: Conquering the length scales. MRS Bulletin 44, 257–265 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2019.67

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