Pressure and tension effects on mechanical properties of ZrAl2

Structural, elastic, thermodynamic of ZrAl2 under pressure, ideal strength and deformation mode under tension are investigated by the first-principles method. The calculated structural parameters at zero pressure are in consistent with experiments. Under pressure, elastic constants and their pressure dependence are obtained using the static finite strain technique. ZrAl2 exhibits lower elastic anisotropy. The linear thermal expansion coefficient shows greater effects of temperature at lower pressure. The ideal tensile have been investigated by stress–strain calculations. Finally, the microscopic mechanism that determines the structural stability is studied using the results of electronic structure calculations. We propose that the weakening of Zr-Zr leads to the significant change of stress–strain curve at strain ∼0.27, and the breaking of Zr2-Zr3 leads to the structural instability of ZrAl2 under large tensile strains.