Synergetic Enhancements on the Mechanical and Tribological Performance of Al₁₀Cr₁₇Fe₂₀NiV₄ Medium‐Entropy Alloys Induced by Nano‐Al₂O₃ Particles

Due to the lack of mature mechanisms to support the wear performance of medium‐entropy alloys (MEAs) with nonequiatomic ratios, the practical application of medium alloy in wear‐resistant structural materials is severely restricted. Herein, a nonequiatomic Al₁₀Cr₁₇Fe₂₀NiV₄ medium entropy reinforced by nano‐Al₂O₃ particles is designed and fabricated through high‐energy ball milling and hot pressing. During the high‐energy ball‐milling process, a supersaturated solid solution with a single face‐centered cubic structure is formed in the Al₁₀Cr₁₇Fe₂₀NiV₄. The hardness of Al₁₀Cr₁₇Fe₂₀NiV₄‐reinforced Al₂O₃ nanoparticles is 13.9 ± 0.4 GPa measured using nanoindentation, which is about twice high as that of MEAs. Both Al₁₀Cr₁₇Fe₂₀NiV₄ and Al₁₀Cr₁₇Fe₂₀NiV₄–Al₂O₃ are implemented to ball‐on disc sliding wear at ambient temperature against an alumina ball and Si₃N₄ ball. The wear test indicates that the wear rate of Al₁₀Cr₁₇Fe₂₀NiV₄‐Al₂O₃ against Al₂O₃ and Si₃N₄ is 13.87 × 10⁻⁵ and 9.47 × 10⁻⁵ mm³ N⁻¹ m⁻¹, which is lower than those of the Al₁₀Cr₁₇Fe₂₀NiV₄, respectively. The significant enhancements in the mechanical and wear performance can be mainly due to the coupled effects of grain refinement and particle dispersion strengthening induced by nano‐Al₂O₃ particles. The enhanced mechanical and wear properties of Al₁₀Cr₁₇Fe₂₀NiV₄ make it a competitive candidate to be applied in advanced mechanical manufacturing.