Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Precipitation-hardened high-entropy alloys for high-temperature applications: A critical review

  • High-Temperature Materials for Structural Applications
  • Published:
MRS Bulletin Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Conventional alloy design based on a single primary element has reached its limits in terms of performance optimization. An alloy design strategy with multi-principal elements has recently been uncovered to overcome this bottleneck. Multicomponent alloys, generally referred to as high-entropy alloys (HEAs), exhibit many promising properties, especially outstanding mechanical performance at cryogenic, ambient, and elevated temperatures. In this article, we focus on precipitation-hardened HEAs, which are potential candidates for next-generation structural materials, especially at high temperatures. The key issues involved include precipitation behaviors, phase stability, and phase control, all of which provide useful guidelines for further development of high-temperature materials with superior performance. In particular, we address the formation of cellular γ′ precipitates at grain boundaries, which is closely related to the embrittlement of HEAs at intermediate temperatures. Critical issues and design strategies in developing HEAs for high-temperature applications are also discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. J.W. Yeh, S.K. Chen, S.J. Lin, J.Y. Gan, T.S. Chin, T.T. Shun, C.H. Tsau, S.Y. Chang, Adv. Eng. Mater. 6, 299 (2004).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. B. Cantor, I. Chang, P. Knight, A. Vincent, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 375, 213 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. F. Otto, A. Dlouhý, C. Somsen, H. Bei, G. Eggeler, E.P. George, Acta Mater. 61, 5743 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Y. Wu, W. Liu, X. Wang, D. Ma, A.D. Stoica, T. Nieh, Z. He, Z. Lu, Appl. Phys. Lett. 104, 051910 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. J. Zhang, J. Wang, H. Harada, Y. Koizumi, Acta Mater. 53, 4623 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. D.N. Seidman, E.A. Marquis, D.C. Dunand, Acta Mater. 50, 4021 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. J. Nie, B. Muddle, Acta Mater. 48, 1691 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Z. Jiao, J. Luan, M. Miller, C.T. Liu, Acta Mater. 97, 58 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. T. Yang, Y. Zhao, Y. Tong, Z. Jiao, J. Wei, J. Cai, X. Han, D. Chen, A. Hu, J.J. Kai, K. Lu, Y. Liu, C.T. Liu, Science 362, 933 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. J. He, H. Wang, H. Huang, X. Xu, M. Chen, Y. Wu, X. Liu, T. Nieh, K. An, Z. Lu, Acta Mater. 102, 187 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. T. Yang, Y. Zhao, J. Luan, B. Han, J. Wei, J. Kai, C.T. Liu, Scr. Mater. 164, 30 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. F. He, D. Chen, B. Han, Q. Wu, Z. Wang, S. Wei, D. Wei, J. Wang, C.T. Liu, J.-j. Kai, Acta Mater. 167, 275 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. W. Liu, Z. Lu, J. He, J. Luan, Z. Wang, B. Liu, Y. Liu, M. Chen, C.T. Liu, Acta Mater. 116, 332 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. K. Ming, X. Bi, J. Wang, Scr. Mater. 137, 88 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. W. Liu, J. He, H. Huang, H. Wang, Z. Lu, C.T. Liu, Intermetallics 60, 1 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Q. Wang, Y. Ma, B. Jiang, X. Li, Y. Shi, C. Dong, P.K. Liaw, Scr. Mater. 120, 85 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. B. Gwalani, V. Soni, D. Choudhuri, M. Lee, J. Hwang, S. Nam, H. Ryu, S.H. Hong, R. Banerjee, Scr. Mater. 123, 130 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Z. Li, Acta Mater. 164, 400 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. C.T. Sims, N.S. Stoloff, W.C. Hagel, Superalloys II (Wiley, New York, 1987).

  20. C.M. Rae, R.C. Reed, Acta Mater. 49, 4113 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Y. Zhao, T. Yang, Y. Tong, J. Wang, J. Luan, Z. Jiao, D. Chen, Y. Yang, A. Hu, C.T. Liu, Acta Mater. 138, 72 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Z. Lu, H. Wang, M. Chen, I. Baker, J. Yeh, C.T. Liu, T.G. Nieh, Intermetallics 66, 67 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. J.A. Manriquez, P.L. Bretz, L. Rabenberg, J. Tien, “The High Temperature Stability of IN718 Derivative Alloys,” Superalloys 1992, S.D. Antolovich, R.W. Stusrud, R.A. MacKay, D.L. Anton, T. Khan, R.D. Kissinger, D.L. Klarstrom, Eds., (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, Warrendale, PA, 1992), p. 507.

  24. T.K. Tsao, A.C. Yeh, C.M. Kuo, H. Murakami, Adv. Eng. Mater. 19, 1600475 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. P. Caron, T. Khan, Proc. Mater. Adv. Power Eng. 897 (1998).

  26. Y. Zhao, H. Chen, Z. Lu, T. Nieh, Acta Mater. 147, 184 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Y. Zhao, T. Yang, B. Han, J. Luan, D. Chen, W. Kai, C.T. Liu, J.J. Kai, Mater. Res. Lett. 7, 152 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. B. Gwalani, D. Choudhuri, V. Soni, Y. Ren, M. Styles, J. Hwang, S. Nam, H. Ryu, S.H. Hong, R. Banerjee, Acta Mater. 129, 170 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. S. Haas, A.M. Manzoni, F. Krieg, U. Glatzel, Entropy (Basel) 21, 169 (2019).

  30. T.K. Tsao, A.C. Yeh, C.M. Kuo, K. Kakehi, H. Murakami, J.W. Yeh, S.R. Jian, Sci. Rep. 7, 12658 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. X. Xu, P. Liu, S. Guo, A. Hirata, T. Fujita, T. Nieh, C.T. Liu, M. Chen, Acta Mater. 84, 145 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. H. Daoud, A. Manzoni, N. Wanderka, U. Glatzel, JOM 67, 2271 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. A. Manzoni, S. Singh, H. Daoud, R. Popp, R. Völkl, U. Glatzel, N. Wanderka, Entropy (Basel) 18, 104 (2016).

  34. S. Antonov, M. Detrois, S. Tin, Metall. Mater. Trans. A 49, 305 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Y.J. Chang, A.C. Yeh, J. Alloys Compd. 653, 379 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Y.J. Chang, A.C. Yeh, Mater. Chem. Phys. 210, 111 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. C.M. Kuo, C.W. Tsai, Mater. Chem. Phys. 210, 103 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. D.B. Williams, J.W. Edington, Acta Metall. 24, 323 (1976).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. J.C. Zhao, M.R. Notis, Acta Mater. 46, 4203 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. J.D. Nystrom, T.M. Pollock, W.H. Murphy, A. Garg, Metall. Mater. Trans. A 28, 2443 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. R.R. Jensen, J.K. Tien, Metall. Trans. A 16, 1049 (1985).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. G.A. Rao, M. Srinivas, D. Sarma, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 435, 84 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. L. Heatherly, E. George, Acta Mater. 49, 289 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. R. Bricknell, D. Woodford, Metall. Trans. A 12, 425 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. T. Takasugi, E. George, D. Pope, O. Izumi, Scr. Metall. 19, 551 (1985).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. L. Zheng, R. Chellali, R. Schlesiger, D. Baither, G. Schmitz, Scr. Mater. 65, 428 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. D. Kraai, S. Floreen, Trans. Metall. Soc. AIME 230, 833 (1964).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. E. George, C. Liu, D. Pope, Phys. Status Solidi A 160, 517 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. J.Y. He, H. Wang, Y. Wu, X.J. Liu, H.H. Mao, T.G. Nieh, Z.P. Lu, Intermetallics 79, 41 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. A.M. Manzoni, H.M. Daoud, R. Voelkl, U. Glatzel, N. Wanderka, Ultramicroscopy 159, 265 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. T.K. Tsao, A.C. Yeh, C.M. Kuo, H. Murakami, Adv. Eng. Mater. 19 (2017).

  52. A. Manzoni, S. Haas, H. Daoud, U. Glatzel, C. Förster, N. Wanderka, Entropy (Basel) 20, 646 (2018).

Download references

Acknowledgment

The research is supported by the Hong Kong Government GRF (Grant No. CityU 11202718).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Boxuan Cao & C. T. Liu

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Tao Yang

  3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, China

    Wei-hong Liu

Authors
  1. Boxuan Cao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tao Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wei-hong Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. C. T. Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Boxuan Cao.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cao, B., Yang, T., Liu, Wh. et al. Precipitation-hardened high-entropy alloys for high-temperature applications: A critical review. MRS Bulletin 44, 854–859 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2019.255

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2019.255

Search

Navigation