The stacking fault energy in binary and ternary alloys of Al with common alloying elements was studied by using density functional theory. Among these alloying elements, Fe further increased the stacking-fault energy and Ge reduced the stacking-fault energy of Al. The alloying elements increased the stacking-fault energy by increasing the directional inhomogeneity in the electronic charge distribution of Al. The maximum value of the charge difference on the fault plane, Δmax, was used to characterize how many electrons were redistributed due to the stacking fault formation. The stacking fault energy increased with Δmax.

Ab initio Study of the Effect of Solute Atoms on the Stacking Fault Energy in Aluminium. Y.Qi, R.K.Mishra: Physical Review B, 2007, 75[22], 224105 (5pp)