Founding Research Journal

Founding Research Journal

High-entropy alloy AlCoCrFeNi: Study and investigation of the microstructure of the alloy produced by vacuum arc remelting process

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors
Alireza Zeinali 1
Hamid Khorsand 2
1 M.Sc. Student, Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, KN Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, KN Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/frj.2024.470403.1199
Abstract
High entropy alloys (HEAs) represent a novel class of advanced materials, characterized by the inclusion of at least five and up to thirteen alloying elements in near-equiatomic or equiatomic ratios. These materials have garnered significant attention from researchers in recent years due to their unique properties. Among the various methods for producing HEAs, the vacuum arc remelting (VAR) technique stands out for its ability to precisely control the melting process and rapidly solidify the melt, resulting in superior microstructural homogeneity compared to traditional casting methods.This research aims to produce a homogeneous and uniform chemical composition of the high entropy alloy AlCoCrFeNi using the VAR process. The study investigates the microstructure, elemental distribution, phase composition, and hardness of the alloy through a combination of optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy, and hardness testing. The findings reveal that the AlCoCrFeNi HEA forms a solid solution with a dual-phase BCC+FCC structure. Additionally, a petal-like morphology with dendritic and interdendritic regions was observed in the micrographs. The MAP analysis images demonstrated a uniform distribution and dispersion of the constituent elements. The experimentally determined weight percentages of the elements closely matched the theoretical values. The lattice parameters for the BCC and FCC phases were calculated to be 2.868 Å and 3.578 Å, respectively. The hardness of the bulk AlCoCrFeNi HEA was measured to be 505 Vickers.
Keywords
High Entropy Alloy
Vacuum Arc Remelting
Advanced Materials
Petal like
Dendritic
Subjects
[1]  Yeh JW, Chen SK, Lin SJ, Gan JY, Chin TS, Shun TT, et al. Nanostructured high‐entropy alloys with multiple principal elements: novel alloy design concepts and outcomes. Advanced engineering materials. 2004, 6(5) 299-303.
[2]  Gopal P, Soorya Prakash K, Kavimani V, Rajendiran G. [Retracted] Processing and Properties of AlCoCrFeNi High Entropy Alloys: A Review. Advances in Materials Science and Engineering. 2022, 2022(1) 1190161.
[3]  Zhang Y, Zuo TT, Tang Z, Gao MC, Dahmen KA, Liaw PK, et al. Microstructures and properties of high-entropy alloys. Progress in materials science. 2014, 61, 1-93.
[4]  Shiratori H, Fujieda T, Yamanaka K, Koizumi Y, Kuwabara K, Kato T, et al. Relationship between the microstructure and mechanical properties of an equiatomic AlCoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy fabricated by selective electron beam melting. Materials Science and Engineering: A. 2016, 656, 39-46.
[5]  Chou H-P, Chang Y-S, Chen S-K, Yeh J-W. Microstructure, thermophysical and electrical properties in AlxCoCrFeNi (0≤ x≤ 2) high-entropy alloys. Materials Science and Engineering: B. 2009, 163(3) 184-9.
[6]  Lu Y, Dong Y, Guo S, Jiang L, Kang H, Wang T, et al. A promising new class of high-temperature alloys: eutectic high-entropy alloys. Scientific reports. 2014, 4(1) 6200.
[7]  Gao K, Liu D, Sun D, Gao Y, Wang Z, An L. Microstructure and properties of AlCoCrNiFe high-entropy alloy sintered by hot oscillating pressing. Intermetallics. 2023, 154,107802.
[8]  Joseph J, Hodgson P, Jarvis T, Wu X, Stanford N, Fabijanic DM. Effect of hot isostatic pressing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of additive manufactured AlxCoCrFeNi high entropy alloys. Materials Science and Engineering, A. 2018, 733, 59-70.
[9]  Li M, Gazquez J, Borisevich A, Mishra R, Flores KM. Evaluation of microstructure and mechanical property variations in AlxCoCrFeNi high entropy alloys produced by a high-throughput laser deposition method. Intermetallics. 2018, 95, 110-118.
[10]   Kunce I, Polanski M, Karczewski K, Plocinski T, Kurzydlowski K. Microstructural characterisation of high-entropy alloy AlCoCrFeNi fabricated by laser engineered net shaping. Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 2015, 648,751-758.
[11]   Fu Z, Chen W, Chen Z, Wen H, Lavernia EJ. Influence of Ti addition and sintering method on microstructure and mechanical behavior of a medium-entropy Al0. 6CoNiFe alloy. Materials Science and Engineering, A. 2014, 619, 137-145.
[12]   Ji W, Fu Z, Wang W, Wang H, Zhang J, Wang Y, et al. Mechanical alloying synthesis and spark plasma sintering consolidation of CoCrFeNiAl high-entropy alloy. Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 2014, 589, 61-66.
[13]   Elmi F, Valipour E, Ghasemi S. Synthesis of anticorrosion nanohybrid films based on bioinspired dopamine, L-cys/CNT@ PDA through self-assembly on 304 stainless steel in 3.5% NaCl. Bioelectrochemistry. 2019, 126,79-85.
[14]   Cieslak J, Tobola J, Berent K, Marciszko M. Phase composition of AlxFeNiCrCo high entropy alloys prepared by sintering and arc-melting methods. Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 2018, 740, 264-72.
[15]   Qiu X-W. Microstructure and properties of AlCrFeNiCoCu high entropy alloy prepared by powder metallurgy. Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 2013, 555, 246-9.
[16]   Sreeramagiri P, Alrehaili H, Wu X, Dinda G, Balasubramanian G. Comparison of laser deposition methods for the synthesis of AlxCoCrFeNi multi-principal element alloy. Journal of Materials Research and Technology. 2022, 19, 1090-101.
[17]   Wang X, Guo W, Fu Y. High-entropy alloys: emerging materials for advanced functional applications. Journal of Materials Chemistry A. 2021, 9(2) 663-701.
[18]   Huang M, Wang C, Cui H, Zhang W, Zhang C. Investigation of the structure and properties of AlCrCuFeNiVx high-entropy alloys. Vacuum. 2020, 173, 109129.
[19]   Zhang Y, Ma S, Qiao J. Morphology transition from dendrites to equiaxed grains for AlCoCrFeNi high-entropy alloys by copper mold casting and Bridgman solidification. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A. 2012, 43, 2625-30.
[20]   وردی پ.، آلیاژهای آنتروپی بالا به زبان ساده – ویرایش دوم، جهاد دانشگاهی واحد صنعتی اصفهان، اصفهان، 1402.
[21]   Ji X. Relative effect of electronegativity on formation of high entropy alloys. International Journal of Cast Metals Research. 2015, 28(4) 229-33.
[22]   George EP, Raabe D, Ritchie RO. High-entropy alloys. Nature reviews materials. 2019, 4(8), 515-34.
[23]   Poletti MG, Battezzati L. Electronic and thermodynamic criteria for the occurrence of high entropy alloys in metallic systems. Acta Materialia. 2014, 75, 297-306.
[24]   Gromov VEe, Konovalov SVe, Ivanov YF, Osintsev K. Structure and properties of high-entropy alloys: Springer, 2021.
[25]   Takeuchi A, Inoue A. Classification of bulk metallic glasses by atomic size difference, heat of mixing and period of constituent elements and its application to characterization of the main alloying element. Materials transactions. 2005, 46(12) 2817-29.
[26]   Tanada D, Lyth SM, Ishikawa K, Miyajima Y. Deposition of high entropy alloy sub-surface films on metal substrates via DC magnetron sputtering with a CoCrFeMnNi target. Applied physics letters. 2024, 124(15).
[27]   Senkov ON, Isheim D, Seidman DN, Pilchak AL. Development of a refractory high entropy superalloy. Entropy. 2016, 18(3) 102.
[28]   Yeh J-W. Alloy design strategies and future trends in high-entropy alloys. Jom. 2013, 65, 1759-71.
[29]   Murty BS, Yeh J-W, Ranganathan S, Bhattacharjee PP. High-entropy alloys: Elsevier, 2019.
[30]   Zhang X, Liu L, Yao K, Duan K, Wu F, Zhao R, et al. The phase composition characteristics of AlCoCrFeNi high entropy alloy heat-treated by simple normalizing treatment and its effects on mechanical properties. Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 2022, 926, 166896.
[31]   Manzoni A, Daoud H, Völkl R, Glatzel U, Wanderka N. Phase separation in equiatomic AlCoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy. Ultramicroscopy. 2013, 132, 212-5.
[32]   عباسیان وردین ن.، سعید ت.، اکبری ع.، اثر حرارت ورودی بر ریزساختار آلیاژ انتروپی بالای AlCoCrFeNi روکش دهی شده با روش جوشکاری قوسی تنگستن با گاز محافظ(GTAW) ، چهارمین کنفرانس بین المللی جوشکاری و آزمایش‌های غیرمخرب و بیست و دومین کنفرانس ملی جوش و بازرسی و یازدهمین کنفرانس ملی آزمایش های غیرمخرب، 1400، 1-11.
[33]   Shun T-T, Hung W-J. Effects of Cr Content on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AlCoCrxFeNi High‐Entropy Alloy. Advances in Materials Science and Engineering. 2018, 2018(1) 5826467.
[34]   Kumar A, Arora A, Chandrake R, Rao KR, Chopkar M, editors. Effect of silicon addition on alcocrfeni high entropy alloys prepared by vacuum arc melting. AIP Conference Proceedings,  2020, AIP Publishing.
Founding Research Journal
Volume 9, Issue 1 - Serial Number 26
Spring and Summer
Summer 2025
Pages 5-17

  • Receive Date 14 August 2024
  • Revise Date 27 September 2024
  • Accept Date 11 October 2024