First Principles Calculation of Phase Diagrams of V-Nb, V-Ta and Nb-Ta Alloys

We report the solid state phase diagram of V-Nb, V-Ta and Nb-Ta alloys computed by combining the density functional theory total energies with the cluster expansion and Monte Carlo techniques. From the computed phase diagrams, we find that V-Nb and Nb-Ta alloys form continuous series of solid solutions and the solid solution phase is stable down to ambient temperatures, consistent with experiments. The calculated bcc V-Ta phase diagram exhibits complete miscibility. Since the current cluster expansion ignore V2Ta phase, the chemical interaction due to relatively large electronegativity difference, which cause the ordering of V2Ta phase from the bcc solid solution, appears to manifest by making the solid solution phase remain stable for the complete concentration range, down to ambient temperatures, perhaps with some short-range-order. This work further demonstrates the dominant role of constituent strains in the accurate calculation of phase diagram of alloys of constituents with significant size mismatches.