CALPHAD

Abstract

CALPHAD is a powerful tool for both materials design and process optimization through the various thermodynamic calculations with the phase diagram databases written in a TDB (Thermodynamic DataBase) format. In the CALPHAD-type thermodynamic assessments, the thermodynamic quantities are critically evaluated and accumulated in the TDB files as Gibbs energy functions of phases. Although CALPHAD has been started with alloys and metallic systems, it is not limited to those materials and thus can be applied to wider scientific fields. Currently several software packages and multi-component phase diagram databases are available for variety of materials and applications such as hard/soft magnets, batteries, structural materials, nuclear materials, aqueous systems and so on. In the present review, overviewing the progress of phase diagram investigations and the beginning of CALPHAD, the future of phase diagrams and computational thermodynamics will be discussed.