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The near-rapid solidification conditions during additive manufacturing can lead to selection of non-equilibrium phases. Sharp interface models via interface response functions have been used earlier to explain the microstructure selection under such solidification conditions. However, most of the sharp interface models assume linear superposition of contributions of alloying elements without considering the non-linearity associated with the phase diagram. In this report, both planar and dendritic Calphad coupled sharp interface models have been implemented and used to explain the growth-controlled phase selection observed at high solidification velocities relevant to additive manufacturing. The implemented model predicted the growth-controlled phase selection in multicomponent alloys, which the other models with linear phase diagram could not. These models are calculated for steels and a Nickel-based superalloy and the results are compared with experimental observations., Comment: 33 pages, 11 figures, preprint

Developing ductile refractory BCC alloys has remained a challenge. The intrinsic ductility (D) of an alloy is the ratio of surface energy ($\gamma_s$) and unstable stacking fault energy ($\gamma_{usfe}$). Lowering the valence electron concentration has been shown to improve the intrinsic ductility of refractory alloys. However, Re has been widely used to ductilize W, contrary to the low valency criteria suggested in the literature. Here we use density functional theory to calculate the enthalpy of formation, $\gamma_{usfe}$ and $\gamma_s$ of Group IV, V, VI elements and their 25 equiatomic binary alloys in BCC crystal structure. We found that positive enthalpy leads to a considerable reduction in $\gamma_{usfe}$ compared to composition averaged value, resulting in improved intrinsic ductility. Enthalpy is maximum at the equiatomic concentrations indicating the highly repulsive interaction between the alloy constituents and vicer-versa. We found that the repulsive interaction between the alloy constituents leads to a reduction in $\gamma_{usfe}$, making alloys intrinsically ductile., Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures

The present work reports the effect of Ta on densification and microstructure evolution during non-isothermal and spark plasma sintering of nanocrystalline W. Nanocrystalline W-5wt.%Ta alloy powder was synthesized using mechanical alloying. The nanocrystalline powder was characterized thoroughly using X-ray diffraction line profile analysis. Furthermore, the shrinkage behavior of nanocrystalline powder was investigated during non-isothermal sintering using dilatometry. Subsequently, the alloy powder was consolidated using spark plasma sintering up to 1600 {\deg}C. The role of Ta on stabilizing the microstructure during spark plasma sintering of nanocrystalline W was investigated in detail using electron backscatter diffraction. The average grain size of spark plasma sintered W-5wt.%Ta alloy was observed as 1.73 micron., Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures

The present work reports the role of different atomic mobility induced localized pore evolution on densification during spark plasma sintering of nanocrystalline W-Mo alloy powder. The shrinkage (or expansion) behavior of cold compacted milled powders was studied using dilatometry during non-isothermal sintering up to 1600 {\deg}C. Subsequently, the milled powders were densified to ~95% relative density using spark plasma sintering up to 1600 {\deg}C. The enhanced localized Joule heating due to dynamically evolved porous structure could be attributed for the densification during spark plasma sintering., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures

High entropy alloys (HEAs) have emerged as a new class of multicomponent materials, which have potential for high temperature applications. Phase stability and creep deformation, two key selection criteria for high temperature materials, are predominantly influenced by the diffusion of constituent elements along the grain boundaries (GBs). For the first time, GB diffusion of Ni in chemically homogeneous CoCrFeNi and CoCrFeMnNi HEAs is measured by radiotracer analysis using the $^{63}$Ni isotope. Atom probe tomography confirmed the absence of elemental segregation at GBs that allowed reliable estimation of the GB width to be about 0.5 nm. Our GB diffusion measurements prove that a mere increase in number of constituent elements does not lower the diffusion rates in HEAs, but the nature of added constituents plays a more decisive role. The GB energies in both HEAs are estimated at about 0.8-0.9 J/m$^2$, they are found to increase significantly with temperature and the effect is more pronounced for the CoCrFeMnNi alloy., Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures