BFS Method for Alloys Optimized and Verified for the Study of Ordered Intermetallic Material

Abstract

The aerospace industry has a need for new metallic alloys that are lightweight and have high strength at elevated temperatures. The BFS (Bozzolo, Ferrante, and Smith) method is a new, computationally efficient and physically sound quantum semi-perturbative approach for describing metals and their defects. Based on a simple interpretation of the alloy formation process that identifies strain and chemical contributions to the energy of the alloy, the method provides an atom-by-atom description of an alloy. Its implementation requires little more than algebra and the solution of transcendental equations. At the NASA Lewis Research Center, we have demonstrated that BFS can investigate the properties of a large number of alloys with a minimum computational effort on low-level computers. This screening allows the selection of the best alloy candidates for a particular application and, therefore, promises large cost savings over current approaches.