The triennial International Alloy Conferences (lACs) aim at the identification and promotion of the common elements developed in the study, either experimental, phenomenological, or theoretical and computational, of materials properties across materials types, from metals to minerals. To accomplish this goal, the lACs bring together scientists from a wide spectrum of materials science including experiment, theory, modeling, and computation, incorporating a broad range of materials properties. The first lAC, lAC-I, took place in Athens, Greece, June 16-21, 1996. The present volume of proceedings contains the papers presented at IAC-2, that took place in Davos, Switzerland, August 8-13, 1999. The topics in this book fall into several themes, which suggest a number of different classification schemes. We have chosen a scheme that classifies the papers in the volume into the categories Microstructural Properties; Ordering, Kinetics and Diffusion; Magnetic Properties and Elastic Properties. We have juxtaposed apparently disparate of revealing the dynamic character approaches to similar physical processes, in the hope of the processes under consideration. We hope this will invigorate new kinds of discussion and reveal challenges and new avenues to the description and prediction of properties of materials in the solid state and the conditions that produce them.

One of the key aspects of this volume is to cut across the traditional taxonomy of disciplines in the study of alloys. Hence there has been a deliberate attempt to integrate the different approaches taken towards alloys as a class of materials in different fields, ranging from geology to metallurgical engineering. The emphasis of this book is to highlight commonalities between different fields with respect to how alloys are studied. The topics in this book fall into several themes, which suggest a number of different classification schemes. We have chosen a scheme that classifies the papers in the volume into the categories Microstructural Considerations, Ordering, Kinetics and Diffusion, Magnetic Considerations and Elastic Considerations. The book has juxtaposed apparently disparate approaches to similar physical processes, in the hope of revealing a more dynamic character of the processes under consideration. This monograph will invigorate new kinds of discussion and reveal challenges and new avenues to the description and prediction of properties of materials in the solid state and the conditions that produce them.

Characterization and Phase Stability: Theory and Computational Methods: Energetics of Alloys; J.S. Faulkner, et al. Crystal Structure and Phase Stability in Fe1xCox from Ab Initio Theory; P. Soederlind, et al. Spectroscopy and Characterization: NMR Spectroscopic Investigations of Surface and Interlayer Species on Minerals, Clays, and Other Oxides; R.J. Kirkpatrick, et al. Sonochemical Synthesis of Amorphous Bimetallic FeNi Alloys; K.V.P.M. Shafi, et al. Experimental Determination and Assessment of Phase Diagrams: Polymeric Alloys: Model Materials for the Understanding of the Statistical Thermodynamics of Mixtures; K. Binder, et al. Investigation of Ordering Kinetics in Deformed and Annealed Cu3Au; H. Land, W. Pfeiler. Electronic Structure and Transport: Theory and Computational Methods: Improved LMTOASA Methods Part II: Total Energy; R.W. Tank, et al. Effects of Interface Intermixing on the Magnetic Interlayer Coupling; A.M.N. Niklasson, et al. Electrical Conductivity: Experiment and Theory: Electrical Conductivity of Inhomogeneous Systems: Application to Magnetic Multilayers and Giant Magnetoresistance; W.H. Butler, et al. Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Liquid Alloys: Network Formation, Structure Factors and Electrical Conductivity of NaSn Alloy; R. Kaschner, et al. Electronic Topological Transitions: Characterization and Phase Stability of Bulk Amorphous Alloys; R.B. Schwarz. Electronic Topological Transitions and Compositional Order in CuPd and CuPt Alloys; E. Bruno, B. Ginatempo. Mechanical Properties: Micromechanics and MicrostructuralCharacterization: Nucleation and Morphology of Growth Processes: Structure and Deformation of Al-Rich TiAl Single Crystals; H. Inui, M. Yamaguchi. Experimental Studies on Precursor Phenomena in Displacive Phase Transformations; D. Schryvers. Theory and Computational Methods: Calculating Grain Boundary Energies and Other Defect Energies in Ordered Alloys; W. Finnis. Atomistic Study of Structure and Mobility of Dislocations in NiAl; R. Schroll, et al. Superplasticity: Texture and Structure of Superplastically Deformed AlZn Based Alloys; R. Ciach, et al. Effect of Liquid Phase on Superplasticity at High Strain Rates in Metals and Their Composites; T.G. Nieh, J. Wadsworth. Multiple Scattering Theory and Applications: A KKR and KKRCPA Code for Any Bravais Lattice; E. Bruno, B. Ginatempo. Full Multiple Scattering Calculation on HgTe Under High Pressure at the Mercury L3 X-Ray Absorption Edge; V. Briois, et al. 40 additional articles. Index.

One of the key aspects of this volume is to cut across the traditional taxonomy of disciplines in the study of alloys. Hence there has been a deliberate attempt to integrate the different approaches taken towards alloys as a class of materials in different fields, ranging from geology to metallurgical engineering. The emphasis of this book is to highlight commonalities between different fields with respect to how alloys are studied. The topics in this book fall into several themes, which suggest a number of different classification schemes. We have chosen a scheme that classifies the papers in the volume into the categories Microstructural Considerations, Ordering, Kinetics and Diffusion, Magnetic Considerations and Elastic Considerations. The book has juxtaposed apparently disparate approaches to similar physical processes, in the hope of revealing a more dynamic character of the processes under consideration. This monograph will invigorate new kinds of discussion and reveal challenges and new avenues to the description and prediction of properties of materials in the solid state and the conditions that produce them.

It is common practice today to use the term "alloy" in connection with specific classes of materials, with prominence given to metals and semiconductors. However, there is good justification for considering alloys in a unified manner based on properties rather than types of materials because, after all, to alloy means to mix. The scientific aspects of mixing together different materials has a very long history going back to early attempts to understand and control materials behavior for the service of mankind. The case for using the scientific term "alloy" to mean any material consisting of more than one element can be based on the following two considerations. First, many alloys are mixtures of metallic, semiconducting, and/or insulating materials, and the properties of an alloy, i.e., metallic, semiconducting, or insulating, are often functions of composition and of external conditions, such as temperature and pressure. Second, and most importantly, in attempting to understand the various properties of materials, whether physical, chemical, or mechanical, one is apt to use the terminology and experimental, formal, and computational methods in their study that transcend the type of material being studied.

The triennial International Alloy Conferences (lACs) aim at the identification and promotion of the common elements developed in the study, either experimental, phenomenological, or theoretical and computational, of materials properties across materials types, from metals to minerals. To accomplish this goal, the lACs bring together scientists from a wide spectrum of materials science including experiment, theory, modeling, and computation, incorporating a broad range of materials properties. The first lAC, lAC-I, took place in Athens, Greece, June 16-21, 1996. The present volume of proceedings contains the papers presented at IAC-2, that took place in Davos, Switzerland, August 8-13, 1999. The topics in this book fall into several themes, which suggest a number of different classification schemes. We have chosen a scheme that classifies the papers in the volume into the categories Microstructural Properties; Ordering, Kinetics and Diffusion; Magnetic Properties and Elastic Properties. We have juxtaposed apparently disparate of revealing the dynamic character approaches to similar physical processes, in the hope of the processes under consideration. We hope this will invigorate new kinds of discussion and reveal challenges and new avenues to the description and prediction of properties of materials in the solid state and the conditions that produce them.