Ductile and Oxidation Resistant Ultrahigh-Temperature Materials

Research Project, 2020 – 2024

The current project is dedicated to improving the energy efficiency of aerospace and power-generation gas-turbine engines, by enabling engine materials to operate at higher temperatures. The search for superior high temperature materials to the current state-of-the-art nickel-base superalloys, has previously been stagnated by the relatively low melting temperatures of nickel-base alloys, and the difficulty in reaching a balance of mechanical properties and oxidation resistance for alloys with higher melting temperatures. Here we use a paradigm-shift high-entropy (concentrated multicomponent) alloying strategy, to design refractory (high melting temperature) multi-principal-element alloys as new generation ultrahigh-temperature materials, integrating both experimental studies and theoretical predictions based on physical metallurgy principles and computational thermodynamic calculations.

The project will be completed within four years, combing established and complementary expertise from Chalmers on the alloy development of high-entropy alloys with that from KTH on computational thermodynamics. A successful implementation of the project will bring profound scientific understanding to the research of multi-principal-element alloys and refractory alloys, and lead to the development of novel ultrahigh-temperature materials, with great potential to improve energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emission for Swedish transportation and energy industries.