The Materials Genome Initiative: One year on

A Constitutive Equation Relating Composition and Microstructure to Properties in Ti-6Al-4V: As Derived Using a Novel Integrated Computational Approach

“…Consider solid solution strengthening of an individual alloying addition in a dilute binary system, where the increase in strength above r 0 is often generalized to the form shown in Eq. [3] r ss ¼ Ac n ; n is 1 = 2 or 2 = 3 : ½3…”

“…Indeed, for a given material, the provision of such a phenomenological equation accurately coupling these descriptors to a given property (e.g., yield strength r ys ) is a principal component of Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) frameworks and the Materials Genome Initiative. [1][2][3] The benefits afforded by a phenomenological equation that can predict properties accurately are well understood, and include reduced design time, reduced risk when inserting material for new applications/components, and increased understanding of the role of variations in composition and microstructure on the materials design allowables. Examples of successful models include the notable advances in the development of computational tools to predict elastic properties in complex multi-phase alloys.…”

Perspective: Interactive material property databases through aggregation of literature data

“…Funding for MGI related programs has grown and comes from many agencies including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Defence (DOE), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and others. 20 Many funding agencies now require detailed data management plans for collecting and archiving data. Rather than seeing this data management requirement as impractical, or as an onerous burden getting in the way of research, it can be thought of as positive catalyst for accelerating database growth.…”

“…20 For example, to accomplish the MGI goals, direct funding for large scale data infrastructure development and data acquisition is warranted. Dr. Francine Berman, chair of the US branch of the Research Data Alliance, stated "publicly accessible data requires a stable home and someone to pay the mortgage."…”

“…19 Additionally, there are unresolved questions regarding how to recognize and assign value to emerging data sets. 20 Finally, the database needs to be open-access in a way that can be indexed and searched, and yet it must have safeguards for industrially proprietary data to ensure industrial partnerships necessary for technology transfer. 4,21 In this commentary, we describe some of the advantages and shortcomings of current approaches for building interactive databases of materials properties and outline some of the best practices, opportunities, and remaining challenges that lie ahead in this emerging field of materials informatics.…”