A survey of energies from pure metals to multi-principal element alloys

TL;DR

This survey comprehensively compares various energy types across pure metals and multi-principal element alloys, revealing how structure and composition influence their energetic properties and potential applications.

Contribution

It extends previous analyses by including a wide range of metals and alloys, compiling extensive energy data, and highlighting the effects of structure and alloying on energy profiles.

Findings

Significant impact of constituent elements on alloy energies

Disparity in mechanical energies among fcc, hcp, and bcc metals

Energy relationships inform structural transformations and applications

Abstract

In materials science, a wide range of properties of materials are governed by various types of energies, including thermal, physicochemical, structural, and mechanical energies. In 2005, Dr. Frans Spaepen used crystalline face-centered-cubic (fcc) copper as an example to discuss a variety of phenomena that are associated with energies. Inspired by his pioneering work, we broaden our analysis to include a selection of representative pure metals with fcc, hexagonal close-packed (hcp), and body-centered cubic (bcc) structures. Additionally, we extend our comparison to energies between pure metals and equiatomic binary, ternary, and multi-principal element alloys (sometimes also known as high-entropy alloys). Through an extensive collection of data and calculations, we compile energy tables that provide a comprehensive view of how structure and alloying influence the energy profiles of these metals and alloys. We highlight the significant impact of constituent elements on the energies of alloys compared to pure metals and reveal a notable disparity in mechanical energies among materials in fcc-, hcp- and bcc-structured metals and alloys. Furthermore, we discuss the energy relationships, the implications for structural transformations and potential applications, providing insights into the broader context of these energy variations.