• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.478-483
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• 2023

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are characterized by having five or more main elements and forming simple solids without forming intermetallic compounds, owing to the high entropy effect. HEAs with these characteristics are being researched as structural materials for extreme environments. Conventional refractory alloys have excellent high-temperature strength and stability; however, problems occur when they are used extensively in a high-temperature environment, leading to reduced fatigue properties due to oxidation or a limited service life. In contrast, refractory entropy alloys, which provide refractory properties to entropy alloys, can address these issues and improve the high-temperature stability of the alloy through phase control when designed based on existing refractory alloy elements. Refractory high-entropy alloys require sufficient milling time while in the process of mechanical alloying because of the brittleness of the added elements. Consequently, the high-energy milling process must be optimized because of the possibility of contamination of the alloyed powder during prolonged milling. In this study, we investigated the high-temperature oxidation behavior of refractory high-entropy alloys while optimizing the milling time.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.103-109
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• 2021

High-entropy alloys have excellent mechanical properties under extreme environments, rendering them promising candidates for next-generation structural materials. It is desirable to develop non-equiatomic high-entropy alloys that do not require many expensive or heavy elements, contrary to the requirements of typical high-entropy alloys. In this study, a non-equiatomic high-entropy alloy powder Fe_49.5Mn₃₀Co₁₀Cr₁₀C_0.5 (at.%) is prepared by high energy ball milling and fabricated by spark plasma sintering. By combining different ball milling times and ball-to-powder ratios, we attempt to find a proper mechanical alloying condition to achieve improved mechanical properties. The milled powder and sintered specimens are examined using X-ray diffraction to investigate the progress of mechanical alloying and microstructural changes. A miniature tensile specimen after sintering is used to investigate the mechanical properties. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of the microstructure is performed using electron backscatter diffraction.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.52-57
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• 2020

In this study, we report the microstructure and characterization of Ta₂₀Nb₂₀V₂₀W₂₀Ti₂₀ high-entropy alloy powders and sintered samples. The effects of milling time on the microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated in detail. Microstructure and structural characterization were performed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The mechanical properties of the sintered samples were analyzed through a compressive test at room temperature with a strain rate of 1 × 10^-4 s^-1. The microstructure of sintered Ta₂₀Nb₂₀V₂₀W₂₀Ti₂₀ high-entropy alloy is composed of a BCC phase and a TiO phase. A better combination of compressive strength and strain was achieved by using prealloyed Ta₂₀Nb₂₀V₂₀W₂₀Ti₂₀ powder with low oxygen content. The results suggest that the oxide formed during the sintering process affects the mechanical properties of Ta₂₀Nb₂₀V₂₀W₂₀Ti₂₀ high-entropy alloys, which are related to the interfacial stability between the BCC matrix and TiO phase.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.273-280
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• 2022

Although the mechanical properties of high-entropy alloys depend on the annealing conditions, limited works were established to investigate the annealing effect on the mechanical properties of Mo-added high-entropy alloys. Therefore, in the present work, the annealing effects on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of Mo-added high-entropy alloy were investigated. As a result, incomplete recrystallization from the limited annealing time not only suppresses deformation-induced phase transformation during cryogenic tensile test but also induces a deformation instability that results into the ductility reduction compare with the fully recrystallized sample. This result represents adjustment of annealing time is useful to control both transformation-induce plasticity and deformation instability of high-entropy alloys, and this can be applied to control the mechanical properties of metallic alloys by combining pre-straining and subsequent annealing.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.128-136
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• 2023

In this study, the effects of heat treatment on the nano-scale creep behavior of CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) processed by high-pressure torsion (HPT) was investigated through nanoindentation technique. Nanoindentation experiments with a Berkovich indenter were performed on HPT-processed alloy subjected to heat treatment at 450℃, revealing that the hardness of the HPT-processed alloy (HPT sample) significantly increased with the heat treatment time. The heat treatment-induced microstructural change in HPT-processed alloy was analyzed using transmission electron microscopy, which showed the nano-sized Cr-, NiMn-, and FeCo-rich phases were formed in the HPT-processed alloy subjected to 10 hours of heat treatment (HPT+10A sample). To compare the creep behavior of HPT and HPT+10A samples, constant load nanoindentation creep experiments were performed using spherical indentation indenters with two different radii. It was revealed that the predominant mechanism for creep highly depended on the applied stress level. At low stress level, both HPT and HPT+10A samples were dominated by Coble creep. At high stress level, however, the mechanism transformed to dislocation creep for HPT sample, but continued to be Coble creep for HPT+10A sample, leading to higher creep resistance in the HPT+10A sample.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.208-212
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• 2018

In this paper, a new $Co_{10}Fe_{10}Mn_{35}Ni_{35}Zn_{10}$ high entropy alloy (HEA) is identified as a strong candidate for the single face-centered cubic (FCC) structure screened using the upgraded TCFE2000 thermodynamic CALPHAD database. The $Co_{10}Fe_{10}Mn_{35}Ni_{35}Zn_{10}$ HEA is fabricated using the mechanical (MA) procedure and pressure-less sintering method. The $Co_{10}Fe_{10}Mn_{35}Ni_{35}Zn_{10}$ HEA, which consists of elements with a large difference in melting point and atomic size, is successfully fabricated using powder metallurgy techniques. The MA behavior, microstructure, and mechanical properties of the $Co_{10}Fe_{10}Mn_{35}Ni_{35}Zn_{10}$ HEA are systematically studied to understand the MA behavior and develop advanced techniques for fabricating HEA products. After MA, a single FCC phase is found. After sintering at $900^{\circ}C$, the microstructure has an FCC single phase with an average grain size of $18{\mu}m$. Finally, the $Co_{10}Fe_{10}Mn_{35}Ni_{35}Zn_{10}$ HEA has a compressive yield strength of 302 MPa.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.595-600
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• 2018

This study investigates the microstructural properties of CoCrFeMnNi high entropy alloy (HEA) oxynitride thin film. The HEA oxynitride thin film is grown by the magnetron sputtering method using nitrogen and oxygen gases. The grown CoCrFeMnNi HEA film shows a microstructure with nanocrystalline regions of 5~20 nm in the amorphous region, which is confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). From the TEM electron diffraction pattern analysis crystal structure is determined to be a face centered cubic (FCC) structure with a lattice constant of 0.491 nm, which is larger than that of CoCrFeMnNi HEA. The HEA oxynitride film shows a single phase in which constituting elements are distributed homogeneously as confirmed by element mapping using a Cs-corrected scanning TEM (STEM). Mechanical properties of the CoCrFeMnNi HEA oxynitride thin film are addressed by a nano indentation method, and a hardness of 8.13 GPa and a Young's modulus of 157.3 GPa are obtained. The observed high hardness value is thought to be the result of hardening due to the nanocrystalline microstructure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2018.06a
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• pp.129-129
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• 2018

Hard coating application is effective way of cutting tool for hard-to-machine materials such as Inconel, Ti and composite materials focused on high-tech industries which are widely employed in aerospace, automobile and the medical device industry also Information Technology. In cutting tool for hard-to-machine materials, high hardness is one of necessary condition along with high temperature stability and wear resistance. In recent years, high-entropy alloys (HEAs) which consist of five or more principal elements having an equi-atomic percentage were reported by Yeh. The main features of novel HEAs reveal thermodynamically stable, high strength, corrosion resistance and wear resistance by four characteristic features called high entropy, sluggish diffusion, several-lattice distortion and cocktail effect. It can be possible to significantly extend the field of application such as cutting tool for difficult-to-machine materials in extreme conditions. Base on this understanding, surface coatings using HEAs more recently have been developed with considerable interest due to their useful properties such as high hardness and phase transformation stability of high temperature. In present study, the nanocomposite coating layers with high hardness on WC substrate are investigated using high entropy alloy target made a powder metallurgy. Among the many surface coating methods, reactive magnetron sputtering is considered to be a proper process because of homogeneity of microstructure, improvement of productivity and simplicity of independent control for several critical deposition parameters. The N2 is applied to reactive gas to make nitride system with transition metals which is much harder than only alloy systems. The acceleration voltage from 100W to 300W is controlled by direct current power with various deposition times. The coating layers are systemically investigated by structural identification (XRD), evaluation of microstructure (FE-SEM, TEM) and mechanical properties (Nano-indenter).

• Metals and materials international
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.1432-1437
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• 2018

This work investigated edge-cracking behavior of equiatomic CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy during hot rolling at rolling temperatures $500{\leq}T_R{\leq}1000^{\circ}C$. Edge cracks did not form in the material rolled at $500^{\circ}C$, but widened and deepened into the inside of plate as $T_R$ increased from $500^{\circ}C$. Edge cracks were most severe in the material rolled at $1000^{\circ}C$. Mn-Cr-O type non-metallic inclusion and oxidation were identified as major factors that caused edge cracking. The inclusions near edge region acted as preferential sites for crack formation. Connection between inclusion cracks and surface cracks induced edge cracking. Rolling at $T_R{\geq}600^{\circ}C$ generated distinct inclusion cracks whereas they were not serious at $T_R=500^{\circ}C$, so noticeable edge cracks formed at $T_R{\geq}600^{\circ}C$. At $T_R=1000^{\circ}C$, significant oxidation occurred at the crack surface. This accelerated edge crack penetration by embrittling the crack tip, so severe edge cracking occurred at $T_R=1000^{\circ}C$.

• Metals and materials international
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.1285-1292
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• 2018

Microstructural properties of as-grown and annealed CoCrFeMnNi high entropy alloy (HEA) oxynitride thin films were investigated. The CoCrFeMnNi HEA oxynitride thin film was grown by magnetron sputtering method using an air gas, and annealed under the argon plus air flow for 5 h at $800^{\circ}C$. The as-grown film was homogeneous and uniform composed of nanometer-sized crystalline regions mixed with amorphous-like phase. The crystalline phase in the as-grown film was face centered cubic structure with the lattice constant of 0.4242 nm. Significant microstructural changes were observed after the annealing process. First, it was fully recrystallized and grain growth happened. Second, Ni-rich region was observed in nanometer-scale range. Third, phase change happened and it was determined to be $Fe_3O_4$ spinel structure with the lattice constant of 0.8326 nm. Hardness and Young's modulus of the as-grown film were 4.1 and 150.5 GPa, while those were 9.4 and 156.4 GPa for the annealed film, respectively.