An Open-Source Data Infrastructure for Alloy Synthesis Research: Stage 2 Validated Multi-Instrument Characterization Pipelines

Stage 1 of this project established a structured database and desktop interface for alloy composition design, screening, and literature cross-referencing. Stage 2 turns that foundation into a working data layer for the laboratory's day-to-day research, through five components of comparable weight. (i) An element-fraction table converts every recorded composition into a fixed-width, one-column-per-element feature vector for machine-learning use, and is filled automatically at sample entry, with aimed, measured and reference compositions kept apart by an explicit type field. (ii) A synthesis-route log stores the screening module's suggested alternative routes, together with the physical reasoning behind each, as database records instead of transient screen output. (iii) A multi-machine architecture moves the database from a development container to a dedicated always-on server, verified row by row against the source, and is accompanied by a stage-scoped repository reorganization and a path-repair utility. (iv) Validated characterization pipelines for X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating-sample magnetometry (VSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) share one three-layer pattern and one database schema; the XRD pipeline recovers the certified lattice parameter of NIST SRM~660b (LaB6) to about 0.0001 Å. (v) A catalogue of engineering lessons records the silent failure modes found along the way. As in the Stage~1 report, the emphasis is on software architecture, validation methodology and these lessons rather than on the underlying materials-science results, which remain unpublished.