Theory-Guided Searching for Ductile Single-Phase Refractory Multi-Principle-Element Alloys

<i>The pursuit of materials exhibiting good high-temperature mechanical behavior has never faded. M</i><i>ulti-principal-element alloys (</i><i>MPEAs, </i><i>also called compositionally</i><i> </i><i>complex alloys</i><i>) with nearly infinite design space which deviate from conventional design philosophy offer great potential. Refractory MPEAs(RMPEAs) are promising for aerospace and related industries usage due to their excellent mechanical performance and superior resistance to softening at elevated temperatures. Nevertheless, a great majority of such RMPEAs developed up to date suffer from poor room-temperature ductility, which makes them difficult to be processed and thus limits their practical applications. Here we proposed a density-functional theory (DFT) guided searching for single-phase RMPEAs with tensile ductility and high strength.</i>