Design Plasticity of Alloys by Atomistic Approaches
- Reference number
- SM20-0049
- Start and end dates
- 210201-231231
- Amount granted
- 1 054 000 SEK
- Administrative organization
- KTH - Royal Institute of Technology
- Research area
- Materials Science and Technology
Summary
Crystalline materials are never perfect. Various types of defects govern the mechanical properties. Traditional efforts for manipulating defects based on experimental observations and measurements are very expensive. With our theoretical approaches, there are opportunities to accurately characterize the properties of defects and predict their influence on mechanical properties using computers. So far these atomistic approaches have not been available for metallurgists in industry. This project is therefore dedicated to bring these approaches to industry and apply them to understand mechanical properties of engineering alloys, optimize and design new alloys. With this project, we will put forward the interface engineering strategy which focuses on tailoring the populations, types and properties of low-energy interfaces, offering new opportunities to create unique sub-grain microstructures for strengthening. First, we will study how these interfaces nucleate, develop and interact with other microstructural constitutes like solutes and dislocations using atomisitic approaches. Based on the fundamental understanding of these microscopic processes, we will develop approaches to manipulate these interfaces for obtaining better material performance through composition design, thermomechanical treatments and fabrication. The successful implement of this project will provide new tools for designing stronger, tougher and cheaper alloys for Swedish metal industry.
Popular science description
For thousands of years in the history of mankind, metals are the most essential materials, with a verity of different applications, from fork to rocket. However, their use is affected by ecological and economical concerns. We, human, have striven to develop better metals with superior mechanical performance, because higher strength and ductility can, for example, effectively reduce weight of components and therefore improve energy efficiency. It also means a high damage-tolerance, better fracture and fatigue resistance, leading to improved safety in a wide range of applications, e.g., in car crashes. However, most available methods for increasing strength lead to the loss of ductility, representing as a long-standing dilemma in material science, known as the strength-ductility trade-off. During this exchange, together with industrial partners, we will explore new strategies and approaches to evade this conflict. The development of innovative methods requires fundamental understanding of what happens at various scales when metals are mechanically deformed. Today, modelling and simulation using high-performance computers offer the materials scientists new opportunities to understand the deformation processes, especially at the atomistic scale. Combined with available experimental methods, atomistic approaches will accelerate the design process of alloys. The goal is to design the mechanical properties of alloys as desired on computer and then verified by experiments, which saves time and money. During the visit, I will devote to applying advanced atomistic approaches for understanding and designing plasticity in engineering alloys. This collaboration will increase the use of atomistic approaches in industry, which will have a great long-term impact on the Swedish metal industry.