This book focuses on the role of modeling in the design of alloys and intermetallic compounds. It includes an introduction to the most important and most used modeling techniques, such as CALPHAD and ab-initio methods, as well as a section devoted to the latest developments in applications of alloys. The book emphasizes the correlation between modeling and technological developments while discussing topics such as wettability of Ultra High Temperature Ceramics by metals, active brazing of diamonds to metals in cutting tools, surface issues in medicine, novel Fe-based superconductors, metallic glasses, high entropy alloys, and thermoelectric materials.

This book focuses on the role of modeling in the design of alloys and intermetallic compounds. It includes an introduction to the most important and most used modeling techniques, such as CALPHAD and ab-initio methods, as well as a section devoted to the latest developments in applications of alloys. The book emphasizes the correlation between modeling and technological developments while discussing topics such as wettability of Ultra High Temperature Ceramics by metals, active brazing of diamonds to metals in cutting tools, surface issues in medicine, novel Fe-based superconductors, metallic glasses, high entropy alloys, and thermoelectric materials.

The attractive physical and mechanical properties of ordered intermetallic alloys have been recognized since early in this century. However, periodic attempts to develop intermetallics for structural applications were unsuc cessful, due in major part to the twin handicaps of inadequate low-temper ature ductility or toughness, together with poor elevated-temperature creep strength. The discovery, in 1979, by Aoki and Izumi in Japan that small additions of boron caused a dramatic improvement in the ductility of Ni3Al was a major factor in launching a new wave of fundamental and applied research on intermetallics. Another important factor was the issuance in 1984 of a National Materials Advisory Board reported entitled "Structural Uses for Ductile Ordered Alloys," which identified numerous potential defense-related applications and proposed the launching of a coordinated development program to gather engineering property and processing data. A substantial research effort on titanium aluminides was already underway at the Air Force Materials Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and, with Air Force support, at several industrial and university laboratories. Smaller programs also were under way at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, under Department of Energy sponsorship. These research efforts were soon augmented in the United States by funding from Department of Defense agencies such as Office of Naval Research and Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and by the National Science Foundation.

It is well known that the density of molecular hydrogen can be increased by compression and/or cooling, the ultimate limit in density being that of liquid hydrogen. It is less well known that hydrogen densities of twice that of liquid hydrogen can be obtained by intercalating hydrogen gas into metals. The explanation of this unusual paradox is that the absorption of molecular hydrogen, which in TiFe and LaNis is reversible and occurs at ambient temperature and pressure, involves the formation of hydrogen atoms at the surface of a metal. The adsorbed hydrogen atom then donates its electron to the metal conduction band and migrates into the metal as the much smaller proton. These protons are easily accomodated in interstitial sites in the metal lattice, and the resulting metal hydrides can be thought of as compounds formed by the reaction of hydrogen with metals, alloys, and intermetallic compounds. The practical applications of metal hydrides span a wide range of technologies, a range which may be subdivided on the basis of the hydride property on which the application is based. The capacity of the metal hydrides for hydrogen absorption is the basis for batteries as well as for hydrogen storage, gettering, and purification. The temperature-pressure characteristics of metal hydrides are the basis for hydrogen compressors, sensors, and actuators. The latent heat of the hydride formation is the basis for heat storage, heat pumps, and refrigerators.

Intermetallic compounds are usually brittle with high melting points. Their properties are often found among ceramic and metallic materials. In most cases, their hot corrosion resistance and simultaneously hardness are important. One of the main applications of intermetallic compounds is for superalloy turbine blades in which they show appropriate high-temperature-related properties. This book collects new developments about intermetallic compounds and their recent usages.

Complex metal alloys (CMAs) comprise a huge group of largely unknown alloys and compounds, where many phases are formed with crystal structures based on giant unit cells containing atom clusters, ranging from tens of to more than thousand atoms per unit cell. In these phases, for many phenomena, the physical length scales are substantially smaller than the unit-cell dimension. Hence, these materials offer unique combinations of properties which are mutually exclusive in conventional materials, such as metallic electric conductivity combined with low thermal conductivity, good light absorption with high-temperature stability, high metallic hardness with reduced wetting by liquids, etc.This book is the second of a series of books issued yearly as a deliverable to the European Community of the School established within the European Network of Excellence CMA. Written by reputed experts in the fields of metal physics, surface physics, surface chemistry, metallurgy, and process engineering, this book brings together expertise found inside as well as outside the network to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge in CMAs.

An intermetallic compound is one consisting of two or more metallic elements present in definite proportions in alloy. They are used in a wide range of industries such as semiconductors and the aerospace industry. Thousands of tons of the nickel aluminum alloy are used worldwide every year.