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Development of Eutectic High Entropy Alloys by Experimentation and Thermodynamic Modeling: An Example of The Cocrfeni-Mo System

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abdullah ibrahim
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31 views

Development of Eutectic High Entropy Alloys by Experimentation and Thermodynamic Modeling: An Example of The Cocrfeni-Mo System

Uploaded by

abdullah ibrahim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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development of eutectic high entropy alloys by

experimentation and thermodynamic modeling: An


example of the CoCrFeNi-Mo system
Most of the previous work on HEAs was dedicated to the development of either single phase
FCC HEA and BCC HEAs. The single phase FCC HEAs have shown better ductility with
reasonable strength while BCC HEAs exhibited significantly high strength with average ductility
[39-42]. Demanding structural applications require alloys with extraordinary combination of
strength and ductility. Finding aforementioned balance of strength and ductility through
development of single phase HEAs seems difficult. Number of attempts have therefore been
carried out to overcome strength ductility tradeoff observed in conventional alloys as well as in
HEAs. These attempts also included development of eutectic microstructure in HEAs named as
eutectic high entropy alloys (EHEAs). EHEAs are expected to benefit from the properties of
HEAs as well as from the characteristics of eutectic reaction [43-45]. Fine distribution of a tough
and a hard phase obtained through eutectic reaction in HEAs can help in obtaining alloys with
significantly high strength and ductility. First eutectic high entropy alloy (AlCoCrFeNi2.1)
consisting of a ductile FCC and hard BCC phase was designed and synthesized [46] in 2014
which exhibited excellent combination of ductility and strength. In addition to the good ambient
temperature mechanical properties, it showed better combination of properties even at
temperature of 700°C. Besides excellent combination of mechanical properties, the developed
EHEA showed excellent cast ability as a result of which superior grade industrial scale ingot
with excellent chemical homogeneity was successfully produced. Considering the extraordinary
combination of mechanical properties obtained in EHEAs, possibility of development of eutectic
microstructure has been evaluated in several other systems which include AlNi 2CrFe[47],
AlCo2CrFeNi2 and AlNi3CoCrFe[48], Al19Co15Cr15Ni51[49], Fe35Ni25Cr25Mo15, Fe20Co20Ni41Al19,
CoCrFeNiTa0.395[50], Co2Mo0.8Ni2VW0.8 [51], Nb25Sc25Ti25Zr25[52], CoCrFeNiNb0.5[53],
Zr0.6CoCrFeNi2.0[54], Nb0.74CoCrFeNi2.0 [54], Hf0.55CoCrFeNi2.0 [54] , Ta0.65CoCrFeNi2.0 [54] and
CoCrFeNiTa0.75 [55]. Eutectic microstructure obtained in these systems consisted of FCC and
BCC phases [47-49, 56-58], FCC and laves phases [59-64], and BCC and B2 phase [65, 66].
Development of eutectic microstructure is relatively easy in conventional alloys due to
availability of experimental and calculated phase diagram [67-69]. Absence of multicomponent
phase diagrams and volume of experimental efforts required for their determination, makes
designing of eutectic high entropy alloys a very challenging task.

The present study is aimed at the development of the eutectic HEA consisting of finely
distributed fcc and intermetallic phases in order to obtain extraordinary combination of strength
and ductility. CoCrFeNi is one of the well-studied fcc HEA system and was shortlisted for the
present study. Mo was selected for the development of EHEA as its addition in some of the
constituent elements of the selected HEA system has been reported to cause precipitation of
intermetallic phases and cause eutectic reaction. CoCrFeNi-Mo phase diagram has been
calculated with the help of the Thermocalc software, the verification of which was carried out by
conducting some experiments. Eutectic HEAs consisting of fcc and intermetallic phases has
been successfully developed and the effect of development of eutectic mixture on the mechanical
properties of studied alloy has been evaluated.

Experimental Techniques
Pure element pellets (Fe: 99.95%, Cr: 99.95%, Co: 99.95%, Ni: 99.95% and Mo: 99.95%) were
used as raw materials and buttons of high entropy alloys were prepared by arc melting under
argon atmosphere in a water cooled copper hearth. Vacuum of 10−6 mbar was created prior to the
insertion of pure argon and Ti getter was melted for one minute to absorb any traces of oxygen
prior to the melting of high entropy alloys. Samples were re-melted five times and flipped over
after each melting to ensure the chemical uniformity. Crystal structure characterization of the
developed alloys was carried out with the help of XRD which helped in identification of
constituent phases. Microstructural characterization of the developed alloys was carried out with
the help of scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM 6490LA). Effect of microstructural changes
on the mechanical properties of developed alloys was evaluated with the help of micro Vickers
hardness tests and compression tests. Load of 300N was applied for 15s and minimum of 8
indents were made for micro Vickers hardness test of every sample. Rectangular samples of
3mm x 3mm x 7mm were taken out from the alloy buttons with the help of wire electric
discharge machine (EDM) for compression tests. Polishing of the samples was carried out in
order to remove EDM wire cutting marks and compression testing was performed on universal
testing machine at strain rate of 1×10−3 /s.

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