Developing high-entropy alloys: Research & Innovation

Developing new materials takes a lot of time, money and effort. A joint research team at Pohang University of Science and Technology recently sought to make that creation easier by applying artificial intelligence to develop high-entropy alloys.

Professor Seungchul Lee, Ph.D. candidate Soo Young Lee, professor Hyungyu Jin, Ph.D. candidate Seokyeong Byeon and professor Hyoung Seop Kim developed a technique for phase prediction of high-entropy alloys using AI.

Metal materials conventionally are made by mixing the principal element for the desired property with two or three auxiliary elements. In contrast, high-entropy alloys are made with equal or similar proportions of five or more elements without a principal element. The types of alloys that can be made like this are theoretically infinite and have exceptional mechanical, thermal, physical and chemical properties. High-strength alloys and alloys resistant to corrosion and extremely low temperatures already have been discovered.

However, until now, designing new high-entropy alloy materials was based on trial and error, thus requiring much time and money. It was even more difficult to determine in advance the phase and the mechanical and thermal properties of the high-entropy alloy being developed.