journal article·2020-11Open access

Natural-mixing guided design of refractory high-entropy alloys with as-cast tensile ductility

Shaolou Wei, Sang Jun Kim, Jiyun Kang, Yong Zhang, Yongjie Zhang, Tadashi Furuhara, Eun Soo Park, Cemal Cem Tasan

Nature Materials· Volume 19· Issue 11

Abstract

Metallic alloys containing multiple principal alloying elements have created a growing interest in exploring the property limits of metals and understanding the underlying physical mechanisms. Refractory high-entropy alloys have drawn particular attention due to their high melting points and excellent softening resistance, which are the two key requirements for high-temperature applications. Their compositional space is immense even after considering cost and recyclability restrictions, providing abundant design opportunities. However, refractory high-entropy alloys often exhibit apparent brittleness and oxidation susceptibility, which remain important challenges for their processing and application. Here, utilizing natural-mixing characteristics among refractory elements, we designed a Ti38V15Nb23Hf24 refractory high-entropy alloy that exhibits >20% tensile ductility in the as-cast state, and physicochemical stability at high temperatures. Exploring the underlying deformation mechanisms across multiple length scales, we observe that a rare β'-phase plays an intriguing role in the mechanical response of this alloy. These results reveal the effectiveness of natural-mixing tendencies in expediting high-entropy alloy discovery.
Source: europepmc · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗

Research context

OpenAlex topics: High Entropy Alloys Studies · High Temperature Alloys and Creep · Intermetallics and Advanced Alloy Properties

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

References (46)

Show source-provided references
1. Cantor, B., Chang, I. T. H., Knight, P. & Vincent, A. J. B. Microstructural development in equiatomic multicomponent alloys. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 375–377, 213–218 (2004).10.1016/j.msea.2003.10.257 ↗
2. Yeh, J. W. et al. Nanostructured high-entropy alloys with multiple principal elements: novel alloy design concepts and outcomes. Adv. Eng. Mater. https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.200300567 (2004).10.1002/adem.200300567 ↗
3. Li, Z., Pradeep, K. G., Deng, Y., Raabe, D. & Tasan, C. C. Metastable high-entropy dual-phase alloys overcome the strength-ductility trade-off. Nature 534, 227–230 (2016).10.1038/nature17981 ↗
4. Gludovatz, B. et al. A fracture-resistant high-entropy alloy for cryogenic applications. Science 345, 1153–1158 (2014).10.1126/science.1254581 ↗
5. George, E. P., Raabe, D. & Ritchie, R. O. High entropy alloys. Nat. Rev. Mater. 4, 515–534 (2019).10.1038/s41578-019-0121-4 ↗
6. Yang, T. et al. Multicomponent intermetallic nanoparticles and superb mechanical behaviors of complex alloys. Science https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aas8815 (2018).10.1126/science.aas8815 ↗
7. Jo, Y. H. et al. Cryogenic strength improvement by utilizing room-temperature deformation twinning in a partially recrystallized VCrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloy. Nat. Commun. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15719 (2017).10.1038/ncomms15719 ↗
8. Varvenne, C., Leyson, G. P. M., Ghazisaeidi, M. & Curtin, W. A. Solute strengthening in random alloys. Acta Mater. 124, 660–683 (2017).10.1016/j.actamat.2016.09.046 ↗
9. Granberg, F. et al. Mechanism of radiation damage reduction in equiatomic multicomponent single phase alloys. Phys. Rev. Lett. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.135504 (2016).10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.135504 ↗
10. Oh, H. S. et al. Engineering atomic-level complexity in high-entropy and complex concentrated alloys. Nat. Commun. 10, 2090 (2019).10.1038/s41467-019-10012-7 ↗
11. Senkov, O. N., Wilks, G. B., Miracle, D. B., Chuang, C. P. & Liaw, P. K. Refractory high-entropy alloys. Intermetallics https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intermet.2010.05.014 (2010).10.1016/j.intermet.2010.05.014 ↗
12. Senkov, O. N., Wilks, G. B., Scott, J. M. & Miracle, D. B. Mechanical properties of Nb25Mo25Ta25W25 and V20Nb20Mo20Ta20W20 refractory high entropy alloys. Intermetallics https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intermet.2011.01.004 (2011).10.1016/j.intermet.2011.01.004 ↗
13. Maresca, F. & Curtin, W. A. Mechanistic origin of high strength in refractory BCC high entropy alloys up to 1900K. Acta Mater. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2019.10.015 (2020).10.1016/j.actamat.2019.10.015 ↗
14. Senkov, O. N., Miracle, D. B., Chaput, K. J. & Couzinie, J. P. Development and exploration of refractory high entropy alloys – a review. J. Mater. Res. https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2018.153 (2018).10.1557/jmr.2018.153 ↗
15. Miracle, D. B. & Senkov, O. N. A critical review of high entropy alloys and related concepts. Acta Materialia https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2016.08.081 (2017).10.1016/j.actamat.2016.08.081 ↗
16. Qi, L. & Chrzan, D. C. Tuning ideal tensile strengths and intrinsic ductility of bcc refractory alloys. Phys. Rev. Lett. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.115503 (2014).10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.115503 ↗
17. Peterson, N. L. Diffusion in Refractory Metals WADD Technical Report 60-793 (Wright Air Development Division, 1960).
18. Distefano, J. R., Pint, B. A. & Devan, J. H. Oxidation of refractory metals in air and low pressure oxygen gas. Int. J. Refract. Met. Hard Mater. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-4368(00)00026-3 (2000).10.1016/S0263-4368(00)00026-3 ↗
19. Lei, Z. et al. Enhanced strength and ductility in a high-entropy alloy via ordered oxygen complexes. Nature 563, 546–550 (2018).10.1038/s41586-018-0685-y ↗
20. Huang, H. et al. Phase-transformation ductilization of brittle high-entropy alloys via metastability engineering. Adv. Mater. 29, 1701678 (2017).10.1002/adma.201701678 ↗
21. Senkov, O. N., Gorsse, S. & Miracle, D. B. High temperature strength of refractory complex concentrated alloys. Acta Mater. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2019.06.032 (2019).10.1016/j.actamat.2019.06.032 ↗
22. Zhang, Y. et al. Microstructures and properties of high-entropy alloys. Prog. Mater Sci. 61, 1–93 (2014).10.1016/j.pmatsci.2013.10.001 ↗
23. Li, Z., Zhao, S., Ritchie, R. O. & Meyers, M. A. Mechanical properties of high-entropy alloys with emphasis on face-centered cubic alloys. Prog. Mater. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmatsci.2018.12.003 (2019).10.1016/j.pmatsci.2018.12.003 ↗
24. Cantor, B. Multicomponent and high entropy alloys. Entropy https://doi.org/10.3390/e16094749 (2014).10.3390/e16094749 ↗
25. Vincent, A. J. B. A Study of Three Multicomponent Alloys. BSc thesis, University of Sussex (1981).
26. Knight, P. Multicomponent Alloys. BSc thesis, University of Oxford (1995).
27. Argon, A. Strengthening Mechanisms in Crystal Plasticity (Oxford University Press, 2007).10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198516002.001.0001 ↗
28. Gypen, L. A. & Deruyttere, A. Thermally activated deformation in tantalum-base solid solutions. J. Less Common Met. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-5088(82)90208-9 (1982).10.1016/0022-5088(82)90208-9 ↗
29. Hutchinson, J. W. & Neale, K. W. Influence of strain-rate sensitivity on necking under uniaxial tension. Acta Metall. 25, 839–846 (1977).10.1016/0001-6160(77)90168-7 ↗
30. Kato, H., Ozu, T., Hashimoto, S. & Miura, S. Cyclic stress-strain response of superelastic Cu-Al-Mn alloy single crystals. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 264, 245–253 (1999).10.1016/S0921-5093(98)01095-8 ↗
31. Lilensten, L. et al. On the heterogeneous nature of deformation in a strain-transformable beta metastable Ti-V-Cr-Al alloy. Acta Mater. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2018.10.003 (2019).10.1016/j.actamat.2018.10.003 ↗
32. Melander, A. Work hardening and softening in a dislocation glide plane with precipitates. Mater. Sci. Eng. 34, 235–240 (1978).10.1016/0025-5416(78)90055-1 ↗
33. Olfe, J. & Neuhäuser, H. Dislocation groups, multipoles, and friction stresses in α-CuZn alloys. Phys. Status Solidi https://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.2211090115 (1988).10.1002/pssa.2211090115 ↗
34. Li, Q. J., Sheng, H. & Ma, E. Strengthening in multi-principal element alloys with local-chemical-order roughened dislocation pathways. Nat. Commun. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11464-7 (2019).10.1038/s41467-019-11464-7 ↗
35. Takahashi, A. & Ghoniem, N. M. A computational method for dislocation-precipitate interaction. J. Mech. Phys. Solids https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2007.08.002 (2008).10.1016/j.jmps.2007.08.002 ↗
36. Anderson, P. M., Hirth, J. P. & Lothe, J. Theory of Dislocations 3rd edn (Cambridge University Press, 2017).
37. Lai, M. J., Tasan, C. C. & Raabe, D. Deformation mechanism of ω-enriched Ti-Nb-based gum metal: dislocation channeling and deformation induced ω-β transformation. Acta Mater. 100, 290–300 (2015).10.1016/j.actamat.2015.08.047 ↗
38. Chen, W. et al. Origin of the ductile-to-brittle transition of metastable β-titanium alloys: self-hardening of ω-precipitates. Acta Mater. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2019.03.034 (2019).10.1016/j.actamat.2019.03.034 ↗
39. Lilensten, L. et al. Study of a bcc multi-principal element alloy: tensile and simple shear properties and underlying deformation mechanisms. Acta Mater. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2017.09.062 (2018).10.1016/j.actamat.2017.09.062 ↗
40. Rao, S. I. et al. Atomistic simulations of dislocations in a model BCC multicomponent concentrated solid solution alloy. Acta Mater. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2016.12.011 (2017).10.1016/j.actamat.2016.12.011 ↗
41. Wang, Y., Li, J., Hamza, A. V. & Barbee, T. W. Ductile crystalline–amorphous nanolaminates. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 11155–11160 (2007).10.1073/pnas.0702344104 ↗
42. Gu, X. F., Furuhara, T. & Zhang, W. Z. PTCLab: free and open-source software for calculating phase transformation crystallography. J. Appl. Crystallogr. https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600576716006075 (2016).10.1107/S1600576716006075 ↗
43. Vítek, V. Intrinsic stacking faults in body-centred cubic crystals. Philos. Mag. 18, 773–786 (1968).10.1080/14786436808227500 ↗
44. Park, S. C., Beckerman, L. P. & Reed-Hill, R. E. On the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect due to Snoek strain aging in the niobium oxygen system. Metall. Trans. A 14, 463–469 (1983).10.1007/BF02644223 ↗
45. Toby, B. H. & von Dreele, R. B. GSAS-II: the genesis of a modern open-source all purpose crystallography software package. J. Appl. Crystallogr. https://doi.org/10.1107/S0021889813003531 (2013).10.1107/S0021889813003531 ↗
46. GOM Correlate (2018).