Intermetallics

Abstract

According to the author, through the 1990s, researchers will be seeking ways to improve certain intermetallic properties, especially high-temperature characteristics including ductility, fracture resistance, and high-temperature strength. To achieve this goal, researchers will be investigating vacuum melting technology, new alloy systems, composites and computer techniques to aid in alloy design. Advances in composites technology will include the development of fiber lay-up and impregnation, and in-situ composites generated by directional solidification (eutectics) or the precipitation of thermodynamically stable precipitates. Supercomputers now allow complex calculations on meaningful ensembles of atoms, large enough to calculate bulk rather than surface-dominated, properties. For example, the embedded atom method has been extended to one million atoms on a massively parallel computer. Vacuum melting will be the key to successful future development of intermetallics.