Microstructures and compressive properties of AlxCoCrFeNi high entropy alloys prepared by arc melting and directional solidification

Abstract

The Al _x CoCrFeNi (molar radio, x = 0.6 and 1.2) high entropy alloys (HEAs) were prepared by arc melting and directional solidification at the withdrawal rate of 150 μ m s ^−1 . All microstructures were characterized by x-ray diffraction, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy with an energy-dispersive spectrometer. Strong similarities in phase constituent were observed between the as-cast samples and directionally solidified samples. The Al _0.6 CoCrFeNi HEA and Al _1.2 CoCrFeNi HEA fabricated by two different techniques respectively consisted of Cr-Fe-Co enriched FCC phase + Al-Ni enriched BCC phase and Al-Ni enriched B2 phase + Cr-Fe-Co enriched A2 phase. It was micromorphology found that directional solidification could not only make the microstructures arranged regularly but also coarsen the grains. This has been attributed to the preferred grain orientation and lower cooling rate during directional solidification process. Compression testing showed that the compressive ductility of directionally solidified samples decreased obviously. The ultimate compressive strength of Al _0.6 CoCrFeNi HEA increased from 1 675 MPa to 1 903 MPa, but the strength of Al _1.2 CoCrFeNi HEA decreased from 2 183 MPa to 1 463 MPa. The difference in strength has been suggested to be the result of micropores in the matrix.

Keywords

• high entropy alloys
• directional solidification
• microstructures
• mechanical properties