In 1970, Hillert and Staffansson published a paper entitled “The Regular Solution Model for Stoichiometric Phases and Ionic Melts”. It was the beginning of the sublattice model that has been a key component in the development of Computational Thermodynamics. This formalism, now often called the Compound Energy Formalism (CEF), has been used to describe a great variety of phases driven by the need for accurate descriptions of thermodynamic phase stability in a wide range of materials involving many elements. The purpose of this paper is to describe the formalism, the physical meaning of its various parameters and the way they can be assessed using experimental and theoretical data. Furthermore, new developments derived from the CEF, such as the Effective Bond Energy Formalism, and other ideas for further development are presented.

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Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed on AlxCyCoFeMnNi multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) to understand the influence of Al and C on the stacking-fault energy (SFE). C addition to CoFeMnNi resulted in increased SFE, while it decreased in Al-alloyed CoFeMnNi. For experimental verification, Al0.26CyCoFeMnNi with 0, 1.37 and 2.70 at% C were designed by computational thermodynamics, produced by additive manufacturing (AM) and characterized by tensile tests and microstructure analysis. Twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) was enhanced with increased C, which confirmed a decreased SFE. The combination of these methods provides a promising toolset for mechanism-oriented design of MPEAs with advanced mechanical properties.@en