Studying the Microstructure from First Principles
An exciting paper from a group of scientists in Japan and India, including BIOVIA’s Riichi Kuwahara, shows how to link the quantum mechanical description of metal alloys to the distribution of alloying elements in the microstructure.
What Software was used?
BIOVIA Materials Studio and BIOVIA Pipeline Pilot made this jump across size scales possible.
The quantum mechanical description of atomic configurations required highly accurate density functional code CASTEP, which became the basis for a cluster expansion method and then phase field analysis. The system Ti–6 wt% Al–4 wt% V (Ti64) is the bread and butter of a myriad of applications, from aerospace to medical devices.
The team’s approach explains Al and V redistribution between the bulk and grain boundaries in this two-phase alloy.
Full details are in the paper “Clear evidence for element partitioning effects in a Ti–6Al–4V alloy by the first-principles phase field method” published in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter.