Collaborative Research: DMREF: AI-enabled Automated design of ultrastrong and ultraelastic metallic alloys

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The traditional trial-and-error approach for discovering new alloys has become increasingly expensive and time-consuming. This Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) project aims to leverage the power of artificial intelligence to enable the rapid and automated design of metallic alloys capable of withstanding both extreme stress and recoverable elastic deformation before permanent plastic deformation. The potential candidate alloys are complex concentrated alloys that are consisted of multiple high-concentration chemical elements. These alloys contain intricate fluctuations of both chemical elements and atomic positions within metallic crystals. The tremendous degrees of freedom in these fluctuations obstruct the efficient search for alloys with peak strength and peak elastic deformation limit. To overcome this barrier, the research team will employ artificial intelligence, computational modeling, and experimental tools to design, synthesize, and test ultrastrong and ultraelastic metallic alloys. A unique two-stage automated research workflow that transits from a data-driven approach to a physics-based approach will be constructed based on integrations of artificial intelligence techniques and physical models. Such integrations will enhance the understanding of deformation mechanisms in complex materials, enabling their use in structural and functional applications. This research team with diverse backgrounds will provide incorporative opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to learn both materials science and artificial intelligence. Moreover, this project is committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in research and education. The research team will actively engage underrepresented minority students in research projects through education and outreach activities. The innovative strategies developed through this research, enabled by artificial intelligence, will have transformative impacts not only on metallic alloy design but also on the development of multifunctional materials and manufacturing processes.The research team is devoted to developing an artificial intelligence-enabled automated research workflow to revolutionize the design and manufacturing processes of ultrastrong and ultraelastic metallic alloys, which have extremely high yield strengths and elastic limits simultaneously. The general strategy is to manipulate and precisely tailor the local lattice distortions and chemical concentration fluctuations for impeding deformation defect motions in complex concentrated alloys. To achieve this goal, the automated research workflow will seamlessly integrate each step of material design aided by physical principles and artificial intelligence. Specifically, iterative design steps will involve atomistic simulations of deformation defects, depositing thin films of refractory metals-based complex concentrated metallic alloys using automated co-sputtering and in-situ characterization feedback, followed by comprehensive mechanical and structural characterizations using advanced nanomechanical measurements, spectroscopic techniques, and cutting-edge electron microscopy. By leveraging low-rank matrix/tensor factorization and autoencoder neural networks, key features of material structures and defect properties will be extracted from simulations, deposition parameters, mechanical behaviors, spectra, and chemical/structural characterization results. These key features facilitate the construction of a two-stage automated research workflow that transitions from a data-driven approach to a physics-based approach for designing and validating alloy candidates. This project aims to advance both the scientific understanding of deformation mechanisms under extreme loading conditions and manufacturing technologies of complex concentrated alloys and other chemically complex materials. The research team provides broad education opportunities for students with diverse backgrounds, including those in materials science, computer science, and mechanical engineering majors. Also, this project promotes collaboration and innovation through the archiving and sharing of codes and data on Materials Commons, a public repository and collaboration platform for materials studies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.