Alloy development using modern tools

Abstract

Abstract The development of new alloys has always been a prominent field in materials science. For modern materials, the conditions that need to be considered are manifold. The properties of a material depend firstly on its composition, but also on the processing during its production and on the initial microstructure. In view of the complexity of modern materials and the numerous possibilities to influence their properties it is necessary to use a variety of tools for their optimization. Theoretical and empirical approaches should be combined in order to achieve a goal in a reasonable amount of time. On the theoretical side there is the calculation of type and amount of phases considering thermodynamic equilibrium, or in more sophisticated cases the combination of thermodynamic and kinetic calculations. If the necessary data are not available, some entities can also be estimated. On the experimental side all of the available methods for producing and analyzing metal alloys should be applied wherever necessary. The goal is a more profound understanding of microstructural evolution so that it can be influenced specifically and alloy candidates are not excluded prematurely if the properties of an alloy are not satisfactory after a first unsuccessful attempt. Examples that are presented here are development steps for Pb-free solder alloys (Bi and Zn based alloys) and the interrelation of alloy and processing development for an Al – Fe – Si alloy.