Friction stir gradient alloying: A high-throughput method to explore the influence of V in enabling HCP to BCC transformation in a γ-FCC dominated high entropy alloy

Abstract The compositional possibilities in high entropy alloys (HEAs) is very vast and effective strategies are needed to establish potential alloy chemistries. In this study, friction stir gradient alloying (FSGA), a recently-introduced high-throughput (HT) technique incorporating compositional and microstructural gradients, was used to explore the possibility of introducing a bcc transformation domain in γ-fcc dominated TRIP HEA Fe38.5Mn20Cr15Co20Si5Cu1.5 (at.%) by vanadium addition. FSGA has accelerated the process of attaining the composition-microstructure library and the results suggest that vanadium addition of ~1 at.% results in nucleation of α-bcc. This is the first observation of e-hcp to α-bcc transformation in a TRIP HEA and supports the Olson-Cohen model of martensitic transformation (γ-fcc → e-hcp → α-bcc). e-hcp is nucleated with a pyramidal orientation by the formation of planar faults on the {111} close-packed planes of γ-fcc, and α-bcc is nucleated in the vicinity of e-hcp along the {111} γ-fcc trace. There are indications for the formation of basal orientated e-hcp from intersecting e-hcp planes orientated for the pyramidal slip. Thus, the study shows the nucleation and growth of the α-bcc phase attributed to the dual effects of chemistry and strain and potential co-existence of all the three phases.