Machine Learning Moment Tensor Potential for Modelling Dislocation and Fracture in L1$_0$-TiAl and D0$_{19}$-Ti$_3$Al Alloys

TL;DR

This paper introduces a highly accurate machine learning interatomic potential for Ti-Al alloys, enabling detailed atomistic simulations of dislocation and fracture mechanisms in dual-phase TiAl alloys.

Contribution

The paper develops and benchmarks a novel moment tensor potential for Ti-Al alloys, achieving unprecedented accuracy in modeling defect properties and dislocation cores.

Findings

The MTP accurately predicts lattice parameters, elastic constants, and surface energies.

Dislocation core structures modeled by MTP align with DFT and experimental data.

The potential enables realistic simulations of deformation and fracture in TiAl alloys.

Abstract

Dual-phase $\gamma$-TiAl and $\alpha_2$-Ti$_{3}$Al alloys exhibit high strength and creep resistance at high temperatures. However, they suffer from low tensile ductility and fracture toughness at room temperature. Experimental studies show unusual plastic behaviour associated with ordinary and superdislocations, making it necessary to gain a detailed understanding on their core properties in individual phases and at the two-phase interfaces. Unfortunately, extended superdislocation cores are widely dissociated beyond the length scales practical for routine first-principles density-functional theory (DFT) calculations, while extant interatomic potentials are not quantitatively accurate to reveal mechanistic origins of the unusual core-related behaviour in either phases. Here, we develop a highly-accurate moment tensor potential (MTP) for the binary Ti-Al alloy system using a DFT dataset covering a broad range of intermetallic and solid solution structures. The optimized MTP is rigorously benchmarked against both previous and new DFT calculations, and unlike existing potentials, is shown to possess outstanding accuracy in nearly all tested mechanical properties, including lattice parameters, elastic constants, surface energies, and generalized stacking fault energies (GSFE) in both phases. The utility of the MTP is further demonstrated by producing dislocation core structures largely consistent with expectations from DFT-GSFE and experimental observations. The new MTP opens the path to realistic modelling and simulations of bulk lattice and defect properties relevant to the plastic deformation and fracture processes in $\gamma$-TiAl and $\alpha_2$-Ti$_{3}$Al dual-phase alloys.