A new method of discovering materials using data analytics and electron microscopy has 

found a new class of extremely hard alloys. Such materials could potentially withstand sev

ere impact from projectiles, thereby providing better protection of soldiers in combat. 

Researchers from Lehigh University describe the method and findings in an article, "Materials 

Informatics For the Screening of Multi-Principal Elements and High-Entropy Alloys," that 

appears today in Nature Communications.

"We used materials informatics—the application of the methods of data science to materials 

problems—to predict a class of materials that have superior mechanical properties," said 

primary author Jeffrey M. Rickman, professor of materials science and engineering and ph

ysics and Class of '61 Professor at Lehigh University.

Researchers also used experimental tools, such as electron microscopy, to gain insight into the 

physical mechanisms that led to the observed behavior in the class of materials known as high-

entropy alloys (HEAs). High-entropy alloys contain many different elements that, when 

combined, may result in systems having beneficial and sometimes unexpected thermal and 

mechanical properties. For that reason, they are currently the subject of intense research.

"We thought that the techniques that we have developed would be useful in identifying 

promising HEAs," Rickman said. "However, we found alloys that had hardness values that 

exceeded our initial expectations. Their hardness values are about a factor of 2 better than 

other, more typical high-entropy alloys and other relatively hard binary alloys."

All seven authors are from Lehigh University, including Rickman; Helen M. Chan, New Jersey 

Zinc Professor of materials science and engineering; Martin P. Harmer, Alcoa Foundation 

Professor of materials science and engineering; Joshua Smeltzer, graduate student in 

materials science and engineering; Christopher Marvel, postdoctoral research associate in 

materials science and engineering; Ankit Roy, graduate student in mechanical engineering

and mechanics; and Ganesh Balasubramanian, assistant professor of mechanical enginee

ring and mechanics.