Hardbound. The main purpose of this book is to describe the modern tools of solid state physics (in particular, electronic structure calculations and statistical thermodynamics) that enable us to understand ordering effects in alloys and to determine phase diagrams. This approach is used more to throw light on the most important physical mechanisms rather than to be able to make accurate predictions suitable for particular applications. On the other hand, more phenomenological, practically oriented approaches can expand the scope of these new theoretical insights. A second purpose of the book is to show that materials science can provide wonderful and too often ignored examples to test and discuss the most fundamental physical theories. For example, many real alloys on a face centered cubic lattice are marvellous examples of the Ising model on this lattice with many different ordered structures, commensurate or not.The text is therefore defi

This vohune contains the papers presented at the Adriatico Research Conference on Structural and Phase Stability of Alloys held in Trieste, Italy, in May 1991, under the auspices of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics. The conference brought together participants with a variety of interests in theoretical and experimental aspects of alloys from Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechslovakia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, People's Republic of Congo,Portugal, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, U. S. S. R. , and Venezuela. The conference was purposely designed to succinctly cover experimental and the oretical aspects of magnetic and non-magnetic alloys, surfaces, thin films and nanos tructures. The Conference opened with an overview of a select class of advanced structural materials, with a potential in engineering applications, for which the con ventional "physics" approach, both theoretical and experimental, should have a sig nificant impact. A number of papers were dedicated to the use of phenomenological approaches for the description of thermodynamic bulk and surface properties. It was clear from these presentations that the phenomenological models and simulations in alloy theory have reached a high degree of sophistication. Although with somewhat limited predictive powers, the phenomenological models provide a valuable tool for the understanding of a variety of subtle phenomena such as short-range order, phase stability, kinetics and the thermodynamics of surfaces and antiphase boundaries, to name a few.

One of the ultimate goals of materials research is to develop a fun damental and predictive understanding of the physical and metallurgical properties of metals and alloys. Such an understanding can then be used in the design of materials having novel properties or combinations of proper ties designed to meet specific engineering applications. The development of new and useful alloy systems and the elucidation of their properties are the domain of metallurgy. Traditionally, the search for new alloy systems has been conducted largely on a trial and error basis, guided by the skill and intuition of the metallurgist, large volumes of experimental data, the principles of 19th century thermodynamics and ad hoc semi-phenomenological models. Recently, the situation has begun to change. For the first time, it is possible to understand the underlying mechanisms that control the formation of alloys and determine their properties. Today theory can begin to offer guidance in predicting the properties of alloys and in developing new alloy systems. Historically, attempts directed toward understanding phase stability and phase transitions have proceeded along distinct and seemingly diverse lines. Roughly, we can divide these approaches into the following broad categories. 1. Experimental determination of phase diagrams and related properties, 2. Thermodynamic/statistical mechanical approaches based on semi phenomenological models, and 3. Ab initio quantum mechanical methods. Metallurgists have traditionally concentrated their efforts in cate gories 1 and 2, while theoretical physicists have been preoccupied with 2 and 3.

With a history that reaches back some 90 years, the Hume-Rothery rules were developed to provide guiding principles in the search for new alloys. Ultimately, the rules bridged metallurgy, crystallography, and physics in a way that led to the emergence of a physics of the solid state in 1930s, although the physical implications of the rules were nev

This book provides a systematic and comprehensive description of high-entropy alloys (HEAs). The authors summarize key properties of HEAs from the perspective of both fundamental understanding and applications, which are supported by in-depth analyses. The book also contains computational modeling in tackling HEAs, which help elucidate the formation mechanisms and properties of HEAs from various length and time scales.

Complex metal alloys (CMAs) comprise a huge group of largely unknown alloys and compounds, where many phases are formed with crystal structures based on giant unit cells containing atom clusters, ranging from tens of to more than thousand atoms per unit cell. In these phases, for many phenomena, the physical length scales are substantially smaller than the unit-cell dimension. Hence, these materials offer unique combinations of properties which are mutually exclusive in conventional materials, such as metallic electric conductivity combined with low thermal conductivity, good light absorption with high-temperature stability, high metallic hardness with reduced wetting by liquids, etc.This book is the first of a series of books issued yearly as a deliverable to the European Community of the School established within the European Network of Excellence CMA. Written by reputed experts in the fields of metal physics, surface physics, surface chemistry, metallurgy, and process engineering, this book brings together expertise found inside as well as outside the network to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge in CMAs.

The proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on title], held in Rhodes, Greece, June-July 1992, comprise invited and contributed papers that focus on recent experimental, theoretical, and computational developments in the study of phase alloy transformations. The coverage is in three parts:

Ordered intermetallics constitute a unique class of metallic materials which may be developed as new-generation materials for structural use at high temperatures in hostile environments. At present, there is a worldwide interest in intermetallics, and extensive efforts have been devoted to intermetallic research and development in the U.S., Japan, European countries, and other nations. As a result, significant advances have been made in all areas of intermetallic research. This NATO Advanced Workshop on ordered intermetallics (1) reviews the recent progress, and (2) assesses the future direction of intermetallic research in the areas of electronic structure and phase stability, deformation and fracture, and high-temperature properties. The book is divided into six parts: (1) Electronic Structure and Phase Stability; (2) Deformation and Dislocation Structures; (3) Ductility and Fracture; (4) Kinetic Processes and Creep Behavior; (5) Research Programs and Highlights; and (6) Assessment of Current Research and Recommendation for Future Work. The first four parts review the recent advances in the three focus areas. The fifth part provides highlights of the intermetallic research under major programs and in different institutes and countries. The last part provides a forum for the discussion of research areas for future studies.