Effects of grain size and stacking fault energy on twinning stresses of single-phase CrxMn20Fe20Co20Ni40-x high-entropy alloys

Deformation twinning was investigated in single-phase face-centered-cubic (FCC) high-entropy alloys of the Cr x Mn 20 Fe 20 Co 20 Ni 40- x system (14 ≤ x ≤ 26 at.%). The intrinsic stacking fault energies ( γ isf ) of these alloys varied systematically across this composition range, but other physical properties that have the potential of affecting deformation twinning remained constant allowing us to isolate the effects of γ isf on twinning. Tensile tests were performed at 293 and 77 K, and the tests interrupted at several different strains to evaluate deformation-induced changes in microstructure by transmission electron microscopy. The critical stress above which deformation twinning occurs was thus determined. We also evaluated how grain size (19 ≤ d ≤ 237 µm) affects the yield stress ( σ y ) and the uniaxial critical twinning stress ( σ tw ), which allowed us to subtract the corresponding Hall-Petch contributions and compare our polycrystalline results with experimental and theoretical data reported for single crystals. Taking into account the critical resolved shear stresses for deformation twinning in our alloys ( τ tw ) along with those of FCC pure metals and binary alloys reported in the literature, we derived the following relationship that rationalizes most of the experimental data: τ tw = 10 -3 G + γ isf /(3· b p ), where G is the shear modulus and b p is the magnitude of the Burgers vector of a Shockley partial dislocation. This expression, involving only measurable material properties, can serve as a basis for the design and optimization of new HEAs with tunable twinning stresses and, in turn, exceptional strength-ductility combinations.