Automated Material Selection via Thermodynamic Data Mining
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Solution Overview
Problem
The selection of materials with specific target properties is hindered by the computational intensity and cost of generating and interpreting thermodynamic phase diagrams, especially for complex multi-element systems, which requires significant human expertise and resources, limiting the throughput in material design.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the calculation of thermodynamic phase diagrams using a processor to extract numerical quantities, storing them in a database, and electronically mining these quantities to rank materials based on predetermined criteria, reducing the need for repetitive calculations and human interpretation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If thermodynamic phase diagrams are generated and interpreted manually for material selection, then accurate equilibrium phase information is obtained, but the process becomes computation-intensive and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-calculates thermodynamic phase diagrams for multiple alloy compositions before the actual material selection process. By generating phase diagrams in advance for a comprehensive set of compositions and storing them in a database, the system eliminates the need for time-consuming on-demand calculations during material selection, thus resolving the contradiction between accuracy and time consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates simplified numerical representations (copies) of the thermodynamic phase diagram data by extracting key quantities and storing them in a database. These numerical copies can be rapidly queried and compared without requiring interpretation of graphical phase diagrams, maintaining accuracy while dramatically reducing the time required for material selection.
2Reliability
If comprehensive phase diagram analysis is performed for multiple material systems, then accurate material properties are identified, but computational and human resources are prohibitively costly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculations of thermodynamic phase diagrams for numerous alloy compositions in advance and stores the results in a database. This pre-computation approach allows multiple material systems to be evaluated without repeating the expensive computational work, thereby improving productivity while maintaining reliability of material property predictions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates numerical copies of thermodynamic data by extracting key quantities from phase diagrams and storing them in a searchable database. These copies enable rapid comparison and evaluation of multiple material systems without requiring repeated access to the original computational models or graphical interpretations, thus increasing throughput while preserving accuracy.
3Measurement precision
If graphical phase diagrams are interpreted by skilled artisans to extract useful information, then accurate phase data is obtained, but the process is time-consuming and requires expert involvement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent automates the extraction of useful information from phase diagrams by creating numerical copies of key thermodynamic quantities and storing them in a database. This eliminates the need for skilled artisans to manually interpret graphical representations, as the system automatically captures and stores phase composition, phase fraction, and other critical data in structured numerical form that can be easily queried and analyzed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical process of graphical interpretation by skilled artisans with an automated computational system. The system uses algorithms to automatically extract thermodynamic quantities from phase diagrams and store them in a database, substituting human expertise with automated processing that maintains accuracy while improving ease of operation.
4Reliability
If physical and microstructural analysis techniques are used to gather kinetics and microstructure information, then detailed material characterization is achieved, but the techniques are time-consuming and cost-prohibitive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates numerical representations of thermodynamic phase data that serve as proxies for physical analysis. By extracting and storing key thermodynamic quantities such as phase compositions and phase fractions from calculated phase diagrams, the system provides a computational copy of the information that would otherwise require time-consuming physical and microstructural analysis techniques to obtain.
Data Source
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AI summary
The disclosed technology relates to a method of selecting a material composition and/or designing an alloy. In one aspect, a method of selecting a composition of a material having a target property comprises receiving an input comprising thermodynamic phase data for a plurality of materials. The method additionally includes extracting from the thermodynamic phase data a plurality of thermodynamic quantities corresponding to each of the materials by a computing device. The extracted thermodynamic quantities are predetermined to have correlations to microstructures associated with physical properties of the material. The method additionally includes storing the extracted thermodynamic quantities in a computer-readable medium. The method further includes electronically mining the stored thermodynamic quantities using the computing device to rank at least a subset of the materials based on a comparison of at least a subset of the thermodynamic quantities that are correlated to the target property.