Structural, mechanical and thermodynamic properties study on Mg–Y alloys from first-principles calculations

Abstract

The structures with different compositions of the binary Mg–Y alloys have been predicted by first-principles calculations combined with an unbiased Crystal structure Analysis by Particle Swarm Optimization (CALYPSO) structure searching method. The two already known stoichiometries alloys of Mg1Y1 with Pm-[Formula: see text] symmetry and Mg3Y1 with Fm-[Formula: see text] are confirmed, and a new stoichiometry alloy of Mg1Y3 with [Formula: see text] symmetry is proposed. The dynamical and mechanical stabilities for the three alloys at different pressures are investigated by phonon spectra and mechanical stability criteria, respectively. Subsequently, the bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young’s modulus, the brittleness/ductile behavior, the elastic anisotropy as well as Vickers hardness for the three alloys at 0 GPa are discussed in detail. The results show that the Mg1Y1, Mg3Y1 and Mg1Y3 alloys improve the hardness and stiffness compared with pure Mg, and Mg1Y3 alloy is of the best ductility in the three alloys. Meanwhile, the three alloys exhibit anisotropic. Moreover, the thermodynamic properties, such as Debye temperature, heat capacity at constant volume, entropy and Helmholtz free energy for the three stable alloys, are predicted and discussed.