Talk:High-entropy alloy

Move this page?
I suggest to move this page to "High-entropy alloys". Including the hyphen, which is already used throughout the article, the page title is grammatically correct and consistent with the major part of the scientific literature.


 * Support I would agree. It seems to be more consistent with WP:COMMONNAME.  N2e (talk) 04:38, 10 December 2018 (UTC)

Introduction
I started rewriting first part of introduction so it can be more easily understood by the general reader per Manual of Style, and adding references per Identifying reliable sources. Any questions, please feel free to contact me on my talk page. Thanks. --- Steve Quinn (talk) 06:06, 10 January 2015 (UTC)


 * The third sentence of the introduction is unfortunate for several reasons. The use of the term "base metals" has the potential to confuse, because because "base metal" is more widely known as a common term referring to  non-precious non-ferrous metals.  The use of the word "existence" is also unfortunate, and there is an implication that HEAs would not even have been considered to be alloys before.Ivan Viehoff (talk) 14:40, 20 May 2016 (UTC)


 * I've made a few copyedits of the lede, to attempt to address your concerns. Steve Quinn and Ivan Viehoff, please take a look and comment on what more you think might need attention.  N2e (talk) 04:42, 10 December 2018 (UTC)


 * Thanks for trying, but didn't really address the problem which is that "base metal" means something different from what the writer was trying to say. In particular, a "base metal" is non-ferrous, so is immediately contradicted by the 4th sentence.  I have tried to guess what the 3rd sentence was supposed to mean, and have put in a revised, unfortunately longer, but more precise sentence.  If that isn't what is meant, please edit again.Ivan Viehoff (talk) 08:47, 10 December 2018 (UTC)


 * Having done a bit of a search, I have found this paper which refers to the "base elements" in an alloy, what might be called in colloquial English "principal constituents". My suspicion is that "base metals" in that sentence was an unfortunate attempt to render that terminology in a way that unfortunately ended up confusing. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369702115004010  I would guess therefore my rewrite is correct, though someone might be able to improve the wording.Ivan Viehoff (talk) 10:08, 10 December 2018 (UTC)


 * That is good and useful. I concur that you'll want to get the misimpression about "base metals" from colloquial use out of the lede.  N2e (talk) 12:14, 12 December 2018 (UTC)

Do we have any information on Why these alloys are called "high entropy"?
Do we have any information on Why these alloys are called "high entropy"? I think it would be useful to have that answer be explicated within the article prose to educate those in the global readership who come here to learn something. N2e (talk) 04:48, 10 December 2018 (UTC)


 * From this paper - same one I quoted above - (and whose reliability I am not competent to judge - I did only the first year of a Chemistry degree before deciding to pursue other disciplines) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369702115004010 I interpret that the idea behind the terminology is that there is an entropy increase on mixing substances into solution or solid solution, which is much increased when the different substances are in more equal ratio and in greater number.  Thus the alloys termed HEAs would in broad generality exhibit a much larger entropy increase of formation than most traditional alloys.  But the paper also notes that the terminology is potentially misleading, because many alloys are not in fact true solid solutions. (From my basic knowledge of the metallurgy of alloys, which comes from reading Alexander and Street's "Metals in the Service of Man", what instead happens is that they may solidify to form a granular metal with numerous grains of different, often much less mixed, alloys.)  This can result in them having much lower entropy of formation than a true fully mixed solid solution.  Ideally someone more expert than me should try to render this explanation. Or I can essentially posit the above and see if an expert metallurgist comes to improve it. Ivan Viehoff (talk) 11:01, 10 December 2018 (UTC)


 * Wow. That is a great contribution to my knowledge base on the topic, Ivan Viehoff.  To the extent we could say any of that in the article, cited to the sciencedirect source of course, we would make the article much better for the readers coming here to understand the topic.  Even the material that is cautionary, would explain how areas or zones of lower entropy in the mixed alloy when it solidifies can be a problem, would be super useful in the article.  Don't be too hard on yourself; you did a great explanation there, using the source!  N2e (talk) 12:14, 12 December 2018 (UTC)