Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Precipitate Strengthened High Entropy Alloy Al10Co25Cr8Fe15Ni36Ti6 with Additions of Hafnium and Molybdenum.

High entropy or compositionally complex alloys provide opportunities for optimization towards new high-temperature materials. Improvements in the equiatomic alloy Al17Co17Cr17Cu17Fe17Ni17 (at.%) led to the base alloy for this work with the chemical composition Al10Co25Cr8Fe15Ni36Ti6 (at.%). Characterization of the beneficial particle-strengthened microstructure by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and observation of good mechanical properties at elevated temperatures arose the need of accomplishing further optimization steps. For this purpose, the refractory metals hafnium and molybdenum were added in small amounts (0.5 and 1.0 at.% respectively) because of their well-known positive effects on mechanical properties of Ni-based superalloys. By correlation of microstructural examinations using SEM with tensile tests in the temperature range of room temperature up to 900 °C, conclusions could be drawn for further optimization steps.

Influence of W, Mo and Ti trace elements on the phase separation in Al8Co17Cr17Cu8Fe17Ni33 based high entropy alloy.

Compositionally complex alloys, also called high entropy alloys, have been investigated for over a decade in view of different applications, but so far only a small number of alloys can be considered as presenting good enough properties for industrial application. The most common family of elements is Al-Co-Cr-Cu-Fe-Ni. The equiatomic alloy having 5 phases and being too brittle, the composition has been modified in order to improve the mechanical properties. Different compositions have been tested and as a first result ductile Al8Co17Cr17Cu8Fe17Ni33 has been chosen for deeper investigation. It shows a dendritic segregation into Co-Cr-Fe rich cores and Al-Cu-Ni rich interdendritic sites. The as-cast state is characterized mainly by two phases, namely Al-Cu-Ni rich precipitates of L12 structure inside a solid solution matrix. After homogenization both alloys consists of a single solid solution phase. Results are compared to calculations by ThermoCalc. In order to further improve the properties of the alloy the Cr content has been decreased and replaced by trace elements W, Mo and Ti, which, according to ThermoCalc, increase the melting point and the phase transition temperature which leads to the formation of the L12 phase. As-cast and heat treated samples of the base and the modified alloy have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy and three dimensional atom probe. Results of the investigations will be discussed in terms of microstructure, hardness and coherence with Thermo Calc predictions.