A materials research team consisting of NIMS and Nagoya University has developed a unique two-step thermal aging schedule (i.e., non-isothermal aging or unconventional heat treatment) that can produce nickel-aluminum (Ni-Al) alloys with higher strength at high temperatures compared to Ni-Al alloys made using traditional thermal aging processes.
This achievement was made possible by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to identify several dozen different thermal aging schedules that have the potential to enhance the high-temperature strength of the alloys. The underlying mechanisms of these schedules were then analyzed in detail. These findings indicate that AI can provide new insights into materials research.
This research was published in Scientific Reports on August 4, 2023.
Ni-Al alloys consist of a γ/γ´ (gamma/gamma prime) two-phase microstructure. To increase the high-temperature strength of these alloys, it is necessary to optimize both the size and volume fraction of the γ´ phase formed within the alloy during the thermal aging process. These two parameters are determined by the specific conditions of the thermal aging process, including the temperatures used and the duration of the aging periods.
Given the vast number of possible temperature-duration combinations, previous efforts to determine the optimal thermal aging schedules were limited to using constant temperatures. For instance, dividing a thermal aging process into 10 equal intervals with nine predetermined aging temperatures results in approximately 3.5 billion possible temperature-duration combinations.
2023-11-27 11:41:03
Link from phys.org