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Experimental and Computational Study of Microstructure of Al2FeCoNiCu High-Entropy Alloy

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Abstract

Microstructure and phase equilibria of Al2FeCoNiCu high-entropy alloy were investigated by a combination of experiments and multiscale computational materials. The CALPHAD and experimental results showed that a BCC dendritic phase formed during solidification, while a Cu-rich inter-dendritic phase with FCC structure precipitated at lower temperature. These FCC inter-dendritic phases were also surrounded by acicular precipitates with the same structure and composition. These acicular precipitates were stable during homogenization of the alloy at 550 °C, but they started to dissolve when heat-treated at 900 °C. Molecular simulation results revealed a disparate mechanism between nucleation of the FCC phase and its growth. While low annealing temperature (large undercooling of BCC) aided the nucleation process, diffusion-driven growth of the FCC crystals was faster at higher annealing temperatures.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Trevor Harding, Dr. Ryan Smith, Mr. Eric Beaton, Mrs. Caitlin Kriewall, and the NACE club of the Materials Engineering Department for their assistance and/or inputs in this project. We are also thankful to ASM Materials Genome Toolkits award (2020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Engineering Department, California Polytechnic State University, 1 Grand Ave, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA

    Mohsen B. Kivy, Ryan Thompson, Juan Palominos Jr., Matthew Kestenbaum & Lucy Hunter

  2. School of Engineering, Brown University, 184 Hope Street, Providence, RI, USA

    Avik K. Mahata

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  1. Mohsen B. Kivy
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Contributions

MBK, RT, JPJ, MK, LH performed all the experiments. MBK performed the CALPHAD and DFT calculations. AKM performed the MD simulations. MBK, AKM, RT, JPJ, MK, LH wrote the manuscript, and MBK coordinated the whole work.

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Correspondence to Mohsen B. Kivy.

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Kivy, M.B., Mahata, A.K., Thompson, R. et al. Experimental and Computational Study of Microstructure of Al2FeCoNiCu High-Entropy Alloy. J. Phase Equilib. Diffus. 44, 76–85 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11669-023-01024-4

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