DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

This content will become publicly available on Thu Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2024

Title: A ductility metric for refractory-based multi-principal-element alloys

Abstract

We propose a quantum-mechanical dimensionless metric, the local-lattice distortion (LLD), as a reliable predictor of ductility in refractory multi-principal-element alloys (RMPEAs). The LLD metric is based on electronegativity differences in localized chemical environments and combines atomic-scale displacements due to local lattice distortions with a weighted average of valence-electron count. To evaluate the effectiveness of this metric, we examined body-centered cubic (bcc) refractory alloys that exhibit ductile-to-brittle behavior. Our findings demonstrate that local-charge behavior can be tuned via composition to enhance ductility in RMPEAs. With finite-sized cell effects eliminated, the LLD metric accurately predicted the ductility of arbitrary alloys, which compares well with existing tensile-elongation experiments. To validate further, we qualitatively evaluated the ductility of two refractory RMPEAs, i.e., NbTaMoW and Mo72W13Ta10Ti2.5Zr2.5, through the observation of crack formation under indentation, again showing excellent agreement with LLD predictions. Additionally, a comparative study of three refractory alloys provides further insights into the electronic-structure origin of ductility in refractory RMPEAs. This proposed metric enables rapid and accurate assessment of ductility behavior in the vast RMPEA composition space.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Ames Laboratory, and Iowa State University, Ames, IA (United States)
  2. Texas A & M University, College Station, TX (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Ames Laboratory (AMES), Ames, IA (United States); Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE); USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
OSTI Identifier:
1992675
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 2202737
Report Number(s):
IS-J 11,097
Journal ID: ISSN 1359-6454
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-07CH11358; 1746932; 2119103; AR0001427
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Acta Materialia
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 257; Journal ID: ISSN 1359-6454
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Ductility; Multi-principal-element alloys; DFT; CALPHAD; Experiment

Citation Formats

Singh, Prashant, Vela, Brent, Ouyang, Gaoyuan, Argibay, Nicolas, Cui, Jun, Arroyave, Raymundo, and Johnson, Duane D. A ductility metric for refractory-based multi-principal-element alloys. United States: N. p., 2023. Web. doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2023.119104.
Singh, Prashant, Vela, Brent, Ouyang, Gaoyuan, Argibay, Nicolas, Cui, Jun, Arroyave, Raymundo, & Johnson, Duane D. A ductility metric for refractory-based multi-principal-element alloys. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2023.119104
Singh, Prashant, Vela, Brent, Ouyang, Gaoyuan, Argibay, Nicolas, Cui, Jun, Arroyave, Raymundo, and Johnson, Duane D. Tue . "A ductility metric for refractory-based multi-principal-element alloys". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2023.119104.
@article{osti_1992675,
title = {A ductility metric for refractory-based multi-principal-element alloys},
author = {Singh, Prashant and Vela, Brent and Ouyang, Gaoyuan and Argibay, Nicolas and Cui, Jun and Arroyave, Raymundo and Johnson, Duane D.},
abstractNote = {We propose a quantum-mechanical dimensionless metric, the local-lattice distortion (LLD), as a reliable predictor of ductility in refractory multi-principal-element alloys (RMPEAs). The LLD metric is based on electronegativity differences in localized chemical environments and combines atomic-scale displacements due to local lattice distortions with a weighted average of valence-electron count. To evaluate the effectiveness of this metric, we examined body-centered cubic (bcc) refractory alloys that exhibit ductile-to-brittle behavior. Our findings demonstrate that local-charge behavior can be tuned via composition to enhance ductility in RMPEAs. With finite-sized cell effects eliminated, the LLD metric accurately predicted the ductility of arbitrary alloys, which compares well with existing tensile-elongation experiments. To validate further, we qualitatively evaluated the ductility of two refractory RMPEAs, i.e., NbTaMoW and Mo72W13Ta10Ti2.5Zr2.5, through the observation of crack formation under indentation, again showing excellent agreement with LLD predictions. Additionally, a comparative study of three refractory alloys provides further insights into the electronic-structure origin of ductility in refractory RMPEAs. This proposed metric enables rapid and accurate assessment of ductility behavior in the vast RMPEA composition space.},
doi = {10.1016/j.actamat.2023.119104},
journal = {Acta Materialia},
number = ,
volume = 257,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2023},
month = {Tue Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2023}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
This content will become publicly available on June 27, 2024
Publisher's Version of Record

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Generalized Gradient Approximation Made Simple
journal, October 1996

  • Perdew, John P.; Burke, Kieron; Ernzerhof, Matthias
  • Physical Review Letters, Vol. 77, Issue 18, p. 3865-3868
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.3865

A geometric model for intrinsic residual strain and phase stability in high entropy alloys
journal, August 2015


Ultrastrong Medium-Entropy Single-Phase Alloys Designed via Severe Lattice Distortion
journal, December 2018

  • Sohn, Seok Su; Kwiatkowski da Silva, Alisson; Ikeda, Yuji
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 31, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.201807142

An assessment of the lattice strain in the CrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloy
journal, January 2017


High strength Fe–Mn–(Al, Si) TRIP/TWIP steels development — properties — application
journal, January 2000


Microstructural development in equiatomic multicomponent alloys
journal, July 2004


Optimization of strength and ductility in nanocrystalline and ultrafine grained metals
journal, October 2003


First-principles prediction of incipient order in arbitrary high-entropy alloys: exemplified in Ti0.25CrFeNiAl
journal, May 2020


Phase-Transformation Ductilization of Brittle High-Entropy Alloys via Metastability Engineering
journal, June 2017


Microstructure and room temperature properties of a high-entropy TaNbHfZrTi alloy
journal, May 2011


Tuning Ideal Tensile Strengths and Intrinsic Ductility of bcc Refractory Alloys
journal, March 2014


The brittle-ductile transition in silicon
journal, July 1991


From ultrasoft pseudopotentials to the projector augmented-wave method
journal, January 1999


Alloy design for intrinsically ductile refractory high-entropy alloys
journal, October 2016

  • Sheikh, Saad; Shafeie, Samrand; Hu, Qiang
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 120, Issue 16
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4966659

Generalization of intrinsic ductile-to-brittle criteria by Pugh and Pettifor for materials with a cubic crystal structure
journal, February 2021


Mechanical performance of the Al x CoCrCuFeNi high-entropy alloy system with multiprincipal elements
journal, May 2005

  • Tong, Chung-Jin; Chen, Min-Rui; Yeh, Jien-Wei
  • Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, Vol. 36, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1007/s11661-005-0218-9

Ta-Nb-Mo-W refractory high-entropy alloys: Anomalous ordering behavior and its intriguing electronic origin
journal, May 2018


Design of high-strength refractory complex solid-solution alloys
journal, March 2018

  • Singh, Prashant; Sharma, Aayush; Smirnov, A. V.
  • npj Computational Materials, Vol. 4, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/s41524-018-0072-0

Dislocations in semiconductors
journal, September 1985


Lattice Distortions in the FeCoNiCrMn High Entropy Alloy Studied by Theory and Experiment
journal, September 2016

  • Oh, Hyun; Ma, Duancheng; Leyson, Gerard
  • Entropy, Vol. 18, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.3390/e18090321

Design and tensile properties of a bcc Ti-rich high-entropy alloy with transformation-induced plasticity
journal, August 2016


Effect of local lattice distortion on the core structure of edge dislocation in NbMoTaW multi-principal element alloys and the subsystems
journal, October 2022


On lattice trapping of cracks
journal, July 1990


Universal Maximum Strength of Solid Metals and Alloys
journal, April 2023


Fundamental deformation behavior in high-entropy alloys: An overview
journal, October 2017

  • Diao, H. Y.; Feng, R.; Dahmen, K. A.
  • Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science, Vol. 21, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.cossms.2017.08.003

A ductility criterion for bcc high entropy alloys
journal, July 2021

  • Mak, Eleanor; Yin, Binglun; Curtin, W. A.
  • Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Vol. 152
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jmps.2021.104389

Microstructural Design for Improving Ductility of An Initially Brittle Refractory High Entropy Alloy
journal, June 2018


The conflicts between strength and toughness
journal, October 2011


Lattice distortion in a strong and ductile refractory high-entropy alloy
journal, November 2018


Alloy Design Strategies and Future Trends in High-Entropy Alloys
journal, October 2013


Solid-solution strengthening in refractory high entropy alloys
journal, August 2019


First-Principles Calculation
book, January 2019


Intrinsic plasticity or brittleness of metallic glasses
journal, February 2005

  • Lewandowski *, J. J.; Wang, W. H.; Greer, A. L.
  • Philosophical Magazine Letters, Vol. 85, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1080/09500830500080474

Extra-electron induced covalent strengthening and generalization of intrinsic ductile-to-brittle criterion
journal, October 2012

  • Niu, Haiyang; Chen, Xing-Qiu; Liu, Peitao
  • Scientific Reports, Vol. 2, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/srep00718

Microstructures and Crackling Noise of AlxNbTiMoV High Entropy Alloys
journal, February 2014

  • Chen, Shu; Yang, Xiao; Dahmen, Karin
  • Entropy, Vol. 16, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.3390/e16020870

Precipitation strengthening of ductile Cr 15 Fe 20 Co 35 Ni 20 Mo 10 alloys
journal, August 2017


Brittle fracture and the brittle-to-ductile transition of tungsten
journal, December 2003


Nanostructured High-Entropy Alloys with Multiple Principal Elements: Novel Alloy Design Concepts and Outcomes
journal, May 2004

  • Yeh, J.-W.; Chen, S.-K.; Lin, S.-J.
  • Advanced Engineering Materials, Vol. 6, Issue 5, p. 299-303
  • DOI: 10.1002/adem.200300567

Efficient iterative schemes for ab initio total-energy calculations using a plane-wave basis set
journal, October 1996


Compositional effect on microstructure and properties of NbTiZr-based complex concentrated alloys
journal, June 2018


Microstructure and properties of a refractory NbCrMo0.5Ta0.5TiZr alloy
journal, November 2011


Solid-Solution Phase Formation Rules for Multi-component Alloys
journal, June 2008

  • Zhang, Y.; Zhou, Y. J.; Lin, J. P.
  • Advanced Engineering Materials, Vol. 10, Issue 6, p. 534-538
  • DOI: 10.1002/adem.200700240

High-content ductile coherent nanoprecipitates achieve ultrastrong high-entropy alloys
journal, October 2018


Quantifying local lattice distortions in alloys
journal, October 2020


Mechanistic origin of high strength in refractory BCC high entropy alloys up to 1900K
journal, January 2020


Influence of chemical disorder on energy dissipation and defect evolution in concentrated solid solution alloys
journal, October 2015

  • Zhang, Yanwen; Stocks, G. Malcolm; Jin, Ke
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 6, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9736

Local Atomic Structure of a High-Entropy Alloy: An X-Ray and Neutron Scattering Study
journal, November 2012

  • Guo, Wei; Dmowski, Wojciech; Noh, Ji-Yong
  • Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, Vol. 44, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1007/s11661-012-1474-0

Tuning phase stability and short-range order through Al doping in ( CoCrFeMn ) 100 − x A l x high-entropy alloys
journal, July 2019


Improved tetrahedron method for Brillouin-zone integrations
journal, June 1994


Crack blunting effects on dislocation emission from cracks
journal, February 1994


Solid solution alloys of AlCoCrFeNiTix with excellent room-temperature mechanical properties
journal, April 2007

  • Zhou, Y. J.; Zhang, Y.; Wang, Y. L.
  • Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 90, Issue 18
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.2734517

Python Materials Genomics (pymatgen): A robust, open-source python library for materials analysis
journal, February 2013


Theory of screw dislocation strengthening in random BCC alloys from dilute to “High-Entropy” alloys
journal, January 2020


Engineering atomic-level complexity in high-entropy and complex concentrated alloys
journal, May 2019


Accelerating computational modeling and design of high-entropy alloys
journal, January 2021


Mechanical properties of Nb25Mo25Ta25W25 and V20Nb20Mo20Ta20W20 refractory high entropy alloys
journal, May 2011


Design of a novel Mn-based 1GPa duplex stainless TRIP steel with 60% ductility by a reduction of austenite stability
journal, June 2011


Instabilities and ductility of nanocrystalline and ultrafine-grained metals
journal, October 2003


Refractory high-entropy alloys
journal, September 2010


Ductile versus brittle behaviour of crystals
journal, January 1974

  • Rice, James R.; Thomson, Robb
  • The Philosophical Magazine: A Journal of Theoretical Experimental and Applied Physics, Vol. 29, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1080/14786437408213555

Predicting whether a material is ductile or brittle
journal, June 2018


NbTaV-(Ti,W) refractory high-entropy alloys: Experiments and modeling
journal, September 2016


Microstructures and properties of high-entropy alloys
journal, April 2014


Enhanced strength–ductility synergy in ultrafine-grained eutectic high-entropy alloys by inheriting microstructural lamellae
journal, January 2019


Microstructure and Room Temperature Mechanical Properties of Different 3 and 4 Element Medium Entropy Alloys from HfNbTaTiZr System
journal, January 2019

  • Zýka, Jiří; Málek, Jaroslav; Veselý, Jaroslav
  • Entropy, Vol. 21, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.3390/e21020114

Multicomponent intermetallic nanoparticles and superb mechanical behaviors of complex alloys
journal, November 2018


Chemically induced local lattice distortions versus structural phase transformations in compositionally complex alloys
journal, February 2021


Metastable high-entropy dual-phase alloys overcome the strength–ductility trade-off
journal, May 2016

  • Li, Zhiming; Pradeep, Konda Gokuldoss; Deng, Yun
  • Nature, Vol. 534, Issue 7606
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature17981

Temperature dependence of elastic and plastic deformation behavior of a refractory high-entropy alloy
journal, September 2020


Mechanistic origin and prediction of enhanced ductility in magnesium alloys
journal, January 2018


Origins of compositional order in NiPt alloys
journal, February 1991


Atomic short-range order and incipient long-range order in high-entropy alloys
journal, June 2015


Strengthening in multi-principal element alloys with local-chemical-order roughened dislocation pathways
journal, August 2019


Fracture Toughness Determinations by Indentation
journal, July 1976


Modelling plastic zones and the brittle-ductile transition
journal, October 1997

  • Hirsch, P. B.; Roberts, S. G.
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 355, Issue 1731
  • DOI: 10.1098/rsta.1997.0101

Atomistic simulations of dislocations in a model BCC multicomponent concentrated solid solution alloy
journal, February 2017


Efficient creation and convergence of surface slabs
journal, November 2013


MoNbTaV Medium-Entropy Alloy
journal, May 2016

  • Yao, Hongwei; Qiao, Jun-Wei; Gao, Michael
  • Entropy, Vol. 18, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.3390/e18050189

Significant lattice-distortion effect on compressive deformation in Mo-added CoCrFeNi-based high-entropy alloys
journal, January 2022


Ductile Nb alloys with reduced density and cost
journal, November 2019


Theoretical predictions of structure and related properties of intermetallics
journal, April 1992


Effect of the atomic size distribution on glass forming ability of amorphous metallic alloys
journal, October 2001


Valence electron concentration as an indicator for mechanical properties in rocksalt structure nitrides, carbides and carbonitrides
journal, June 2018


Atomistic Study of Dislocation Loop Emission from a Crack Tip
journal, July 2004


Special points for Brillouin-zone integrations
journal, June 1976

  • Monkhorst, Hendrik J.; Pack, James D.
  • Physical Review B, Vol. 13, Issue 12, p. 5188-5192
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.13.5188

Vacancy formation energies and migration barriers in multi-principal element alloys
journal, March 2022


Theory of strengthening in fcc high entropy alloys
journal, October 2016


Microstructures and mechanical properties of ductile NbTaTiV refractory high entropy alloy prepared by powder metallurgy
journal, March 2019


Martensitic Transformation in Fe x Mn 80 x Co 10 Cr 10 High-Entropy Alloy
journal, September 2021


A critical review of high entropy alloys and related concepts
journal, January 2017


Stability and electronic structure of the Co–P compounds from first-principle calculations
journal, January 2011


Retaining ductility
journal, June 2004

  • Zhu, Yuntian T.; Liao, Xiaozhou
  • Nature Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1038/nmat1141

Dislocation nucleation from a crack tip: An analysis based on the Peierls concept
journal, January 1992


Toward a quantitative understanding of mechanical behavior of nanocrystalline metals
journal, July 2007


Microstructure and mechanical properties of CoCrFeNiTiAlx high-entropy alloys
journal, May 2009


Dynamically reinforced heterogeneous grain structure prolongs ductility in a medium-entropy alloy with gigapascal yield strength
journal, June 2018

  • Yang, Muxin; Yan, Dingshun; Yuan, Fuping
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 115, Issue 28
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1807817115

Atomic-Scale Mechanism of Crack-Tip Plasticity: Dislocation Nucleation and Crack-Tip Shielding
journal, August 1997


Hierarchical features infused heterogeneous grain structure for extraordinary strength-ductility synergy
journal, October 2018


Anomalous decrease in X-ray diffraction intensities of Cu–Ni–Al–Co–Cr–Fe–Si alloy systems with multi-principal elements
journal, May 2007


CALPHAD and rule-of-mixtures: A comparative study for refractory high entropy alloys
journal, December 2020


On the design of new β-metastable titanium alloys with improved work hardening rate thanks to simultaneous TRIP and TWIP effects
journal, May 2012


Design of refractory multi-principal-element alloys for high-temperature applications
journal, August 2023