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Evolution of phase constitution with mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering of nanocrystalline AlxCoCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.3, 0.6, 1 mol) high-entropy alloys

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Abstract

Nanocrystalline AlxCoCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.3, 0.6, 1 mol) high-entropy alloys were synthesized by mechanical alloying (MA) and consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). Single-phase face-centered cubic (FCC) structure was achieved with x = 0 and 0.3. Dual-phase body-centered cubic (BCC)/B2 + FCC structure was obtained in x = 0.6 and 1. Complete solid solution was achieved with a significantly reduced duration of MA (10 h) followed by a brief SPS leading to crystallite size of < 10 nm for MA powders and < 60 nm post-SPS. Incremental changes in Al content translate into increase of BCC + B2 phase fraction and alter the co-existing FCC phase composition consequently. Ni dominates FCC phase of CoCrFeNi and Al0.3CoCrFeNi, whereas Fe dominates FCC phase of Al0.6CoCrFeNi and AlCoCrFeNi. Carbon and Oxygen addition during milling process resulted in nanoscale dispersion of Cr7C3 carbide and Cr2O3 /Al2O3 post-SPS. The hardness of AlCoCrFeNi (730HV0.3) was the highest among all MA-SPS alloys.

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Acknowledgments

The support of the Deakin Advanced Characterization Facility and Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facility IIT Madras is gratefully acknowledged. We are thankful to Dr. Lavanya Raman of IIT Madras for her guidance in XRD analysis and Dr. Qi Chao of Deakin University for his support in TEM sample preparation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, 600036, India

    Rahul Bhattacharya, M. Kamaraj, G. Mohan Muralikrishna & B. S. Murty

  2. Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong Victoria, 3216, Australia

    Rahul Bhattacharya, Murugesan Annasamy, Pavel Cizek, Peter Hodgson & Daniel Fabijanic

  3. Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Kandi, 502284, India

    B. S. Murty

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  1. Rahul Bhattacharya
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  2. Murugesan Annasamy
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Bhattacharya, R., Annasamy, M., Cizek, P. et al. Evolution of phase constitution with mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering of nanocrystalline AlxCoCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.3, 0.6, 1 mol) high-entropy alloys. Journal of Materials Research 37, 959–975 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43578-021-00483-0

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