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Influence of Tungsten Content on Microstructural Evolution of Cobalt-Containing High-Entropy Alloy via Mechanical Alloying

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Abstract

A cobalt-containing high-entropy alloy (HEA) system with varying tungsten content, CoCrFeNiWx (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 1.0), is studied, with the focus on the influence of tungsten content on the microstructural morphology, formation of strengthening phases, entropy, hardness and wear resistance of the HEA. The powders for fabricating the bulk specimens are prepared via mechanical alloying (MA), and the phase transformation behavior of the elemental powders during the MA process is investigated with XRD. It is found that the mixed elemental powders can be alloyed in the milling process. The MAed powders are subjected to differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis to determine the melting points and also to obtain cast-like bulk samples. The MAed CoCrFeNiW0.2 powder is also consolidated via spark plasma sintering (SPS). The experimental results show that increasing W content can promote formation of strengthening phase and enhance entropy of CoCrFeNiWx HEA, thereby resulting in the increase of hardness. The SPS specimens have higher hardness than the bulk samples from the DSC tests. The SPS CoCrFeNiW0.2 HEA exhibits comparable wear resistance to wear-resistant Stellite 6 and much better wear resistance than the cobalt-containing HEA, HE6, fabricated via the same processing route.

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Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful for financial support from the Natural Science & Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), both financial and in-kind support of Kennametal Stellite Group.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    X. Y. Wu, R. Liu & X. Z. Zhang

  2. Kennametal Stellite Inc., 471 Dundas St E, Belleville, ON, K8N 5C4, Canada

    M. X. Yao

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  1. X. Y. Wu
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  2. R. Liu
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  3. X. Z. Zhang
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  4. M. X. Yao
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Correspondence to R. Liu.

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Wu, X.Y., Liu, R., Zhang, X.Z. et al. Influence of Tungsten Content on Microstructural Evolution of Cobalt-Containing High-Entropy Alloy via Mechanical Alloying. Metallogr. Microstruct. Anal. 12, 760–778 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13632-023-01000-x

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