Critical Review of Factors Hindering Scalability of Complex Concentrated Alloys

Complex concentrated alloys can address major materials-related engineering challenges of our time. These range from the strength-ductility trade-offs in metallic alloys, to lightweight alloys and superior combinations of properties required for structural and functional applications. Despite such cornucopia, there are serious factors that are major challenges to scalability. These factors range from the high costs associated with constituent elements, and their availability, to the wide compositional space complexities, lack of higher order phase diagrams and databases, contentious empirical design rules driving, the lack of pseudopotential and potential functions for ab initio and atomistic simulations, competition with existing conventional alloys and no realistic engineering application of note. By resolving these challenges systematically, reasonable trade-offs could be used to deploy these materials to ensure sustainable and scalable outcomes. In this paper, the implications of these factors are discussed for structural integrity of engineering materials.