With over 25 metallic elements, numerous synthesis methods and processing conditions to choose from, how will we design the next generation of high-temperature alloys for turbines, jet engines and reactors? How will we find those metallic glasses with the optimal combination of glass forming ability, plasticity, and thermoplastic formability? How will we reduce the cost and environmental impact of materials used across consumer goods, energy, aerospace, and defense?
With the traditional metallurgical approach, developing new alloys and understanding their complex behavior is excruciatingly slow.
In the Autonomous Alloy Discovery Lab, we work to accelerate this process by orders of magnitude through autonomous materials discovery: We use robotics, develop new characterization methods, and harness modeling and data science tools to rapidly study complex behavior across vast, multidimensional parameter spaces.
Areas of particular interest include:
Refractory Multi Principal Element Alloys promise to reach operating temperatures beyond 1300°C, but achieving a competitive balance of properties remains a challenge. We pursue a variety of strategies, from B2 precipitation for ductility and strength, to rapid solidification processing and beyond, to efficiently navigate the vast design space towards optimal performance in extreme environments.
The composition-structure-property relationships of metallic liquids are complex, difficult to characterize, and remain largely unexplored. Yet, they fundamentally govern the solidification behavior and glass forming ability of all alloys. To fill this knowledge gap, we develop new methods to measure and model the relaxation kinetics, thermodynamics, and atomic structure of metallic liquids.
From high entropy alloys, to nanocrystalline alloys, to quasicrystals and beyond, we streamline and accelerate the alloy discovery process to find better alloys faster.