Yong Dong

A Promising New Class of High-Temperature Alloys: Eutectic High-Entropy Alloys

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) can have either high strength or high ductility, and a simultaneous achievement of both still constitutes a tough challenge. The inferior castability and compositional segregation of HEAs are also obstacles for their technological applications. To tackle these problems, here we proposed a novel strategy to design HEAs using the eutectic alloy concept, i.e. to achieve a microstructure composed of alternating soft fcc and hard bcc phases. As a manifestation of this concept, an AlCoCrFeNi2.1 (atomic portion) eutectic high-entropy alloy (EHEA) was designed. The as-cast EHEA possessed a fine lamellar fcc/B2 microstructure, and showed an unprecedented combination of high tensile ductility and high fracture strength at room temperature. The excellent mechanical properties could be kept up to 700°C. This new alloy design strategy can be readily adapted to large-scale industrial production of HEAs with simultaneous high fracture strength and high ductility.

A Criterion for Topological Close-Packed Phase Formation in High Entropy Alloys

The stability of topological close-packed (TCP) phases were found to be well related to the average value of the d-orbital energy level \( \overline{Md} \) for most reported high entropy alloys (HEAs). Excluding some HEAs that contain high levels of the elements aluminum and vanadium, the results of this study indicated that the TCP phases form at \( \overline{Md} \) > 1.09. This criterion, as a semi-empirical method, can play a key role in designing and preparing HEAs with high amounts of transitional elements.

Effect of minor B addition on microstructure and properties of AlCoCrFeNi multi-compenent alloy

The influences of slight amount of B element on the microstructure and properties of AlCoCrFeNiBx high entropy alloys (x = 0, 0.01,…, 0.09 and 0.1, mole fraction) were investigated. The AlCoCrFeNi high entropy alloy exhibits equiaxed grain structures with obvious composition segregation. However, with the addition of B element, the alloys exhibit dendrite structures. Inside the dendrites, spinodal decomposition structure can be clearly observed. With the addition of B element, the crystal structures change from (B2 + BCC) to (B2 + BCC + FCC) structures, and the hardness firstly increases from HV 486.7 to HV 502.4, then declines to HV 460.7 (x ≥ 0.02). The compressive fracture strength firstly shows a trend of increasing, and then declining (x ≥ 0.08). The coercive forces and the specific saturation magnetizations of the alloys decrease as B addition contents increase, the decreasing coercive forces show a better soft magnetic behavior.

Surface Pretreatment and Fabrication Technology of Woven Carbon Fiber Cloth Aluminium Alloy Matrix Composite

Carbon fiber is mainly distributed in the shape of short fibers and unidirectional fibers as the reinforcing phase in metal matrix composites, and it is seldom studied as woven-cloth shaped to reinforce the matrix. In this paper, the pretreatment and the surface metallization of the woven carbon fiber were studied. Besides, the casting experiment without external pressure was carried out under the application of magnetic field. The result shows that when burning about 45mins at 500°C in the atmospheric environment, the pretreatment can achieve the best result according to differential thermal analysis and weight-time variation curve. Meanwhile the surface wettability between the carbon fiber and the matrix is greatly improved after the surface treatment and at the same time the reaction between the carbon fiber and molten aluminium alloy matrix is necessarily avoided, and it can consequently achieve an excellent bonding between the woven carbon fiber and aluminium alloy matrix. The application of magnetic field also provides magnetic force to promote the penetration of the molten matrix into the carbon fiber bundles.

Microstructure and Properties of Multi-Component AlxCoCrFeNiTi0.5 High-Entropy Alloys

The multi-component AlxCoCrFeNiTi0.5 (x=0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0) high-entropy alloys were prepared by vacuum arc melting. The microstructure and mechanical properties were studied. It was found that the structure transformed from FCC into FCC + BCC + Laves, and finally into BCC with the increase of Al content. The compress test results showed that with the addition of aluminium from 0 to 1.0, the fraction strength increased while plasticity reduced. In the stain rates of 5×10-3/s and 1×10-3/s, when x=0.8 the fraction strength achieved maximum and x=0 the plastic was best, the strength of 2879MPa and 2433MPa, the strain of 0.21 and 0.22, respectively. The hardness increased obviously (from Hv479.1 to Hv692.7) when Bcc phase and Laves phase appeared. The analysis revealed that the strengthen mechanism was mainly composed of solid solution strengthening and precipitation strengthening.

Microstructure Evolution and Hardness of AlCrFeNixMo0.2 High Entropy Alloy

The microstructures, phase composition and hardness of the AlCrFeNixMo0.2 high entropy alloy (x=0.5, 0.8, 1.2 and 1.5, the x values refer to molar ratio) were reported. When the value of x was smaller than 1.2, the alloys consisted of BCC and B2 structures. The BCC and B2 phases were identified to be (Cr, αFe) solid solution and NiAl intermetallic compound, respectively. With the increase of x from 0.5 to 1.2, the microstructure transformed from dendrite/inter-dendrite to eutectic microstructures. When the x was equal to 1.5, besides BCC and B2 phases, another CrFe2.32MoNi phases formed and Net-like (Cr, αFe) phases distributed in the NiAl intermetallic compound matrix. The hardness first decreased then increased with the increase of Ni content. Generally, Ni element is a FCC stabilizer. However, in AlCrFeNixMo0.2 alloys, Ni element promoted the formation of B2 and CrFe2.32MoNi phases. The influence mechanism of Ni element was discussed systematically.

Effect of Ta Addition on Structural Evolution and Mechanical Properties of the CoFeNi2W0.5 High Entropy Alloy

A series of CoFeNi2W0.5Tax (x = 0-0.6) high entropy alloys (HEAs) were synthesized by arc melting to investigate the alloying effect of Ta element on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the CoFeNi2W0.5 alloy system. Phase constitution, microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloys were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopes (SEM), Vickers hardness and compressive test. It was found that when x = 0, the alloy consists of a single-phase face-centered cubic (FCC) solid solution structure and exhibit excellent ductility, the compressive plastic elongation of which can reach 80% without fracture. While with increasing Ta content, the brittle Co2Ta-type Laves phase appears which leads to a decrease of the plastic strain and an increase of the yield strength, and the Vickers hardness shows an obvious increase from HV 179.5 to HV 753.2.

Electrochemical and Salt Spray Corrosion Behavior of Copper Alloy Contact Wires in Chloride Solution

The effect of different alloying elements on corrosion behavior of copper alloys was investigated using electrochemical corrosion and salt spray corrosion test in NaCl solution. Cu-Ag has the most stable corrosion current in the potentiostatic scanning test, exhibiting a better corrosion resistant performance. It can be analyzed from corrosion surface morphologies that Cu-Ag presents exfoliation corrosion mechanism while Cu-Sn shows crevice corrosion mechanism. Cu-Mg has a complex corrosion process caused by multiple corrosion mechanism. In the salt spray corrosion test, the corrosion degree of Cu-Ag is lighter than those of Cu-Sn and Cu-Mg after 24h test. Therefore, the Cu-Ag alloy exhibits the best corrosion resistance in chloride solution.

Microstructure and Properties of Ni70.2Si29.8 Eutectic Alloy Produced by Directional Solidification

The directional solidification of Ni70.2Si29.8 eutectic alloy was carried out, and the solidification microstructure and compression properties of Ni2Si – Ni31Si12 eutectic composite were systematically studied. Directional solidification samples were obtained by induction heating and down – draw process. During directional solidification, well-aligned lamellar structure with a micron scale was obtained in directional solidified Ni70.2Si29.8 eutectic alloy. Despite it is a kind of faceted – faceted eutectic alloys, highly regular and homogeneous structure was obtained through directional solidification. Compared with other methods, the compress test results showed that fracture strength of Ni70.2Si29.8 eutectic alloy obtained through directional solidification was improved obviously, reaching 2100 MPa.

Effect of Aging Temperature on Microstructure and Hardness of CoCrFeNiTi0.5 High Entropy Alloy

A bulk casting ingot (Ø70 × 150mm) of CoCrFeNiTi0.5 high entropy alloy was prepared by vacuum medium frequency induction melting. The samples from the ingot were aged for 12h in the temperature range of 900-1100°C and then quenched in water to investigate the effect of aging temperature on the microstructure and hardness of CoCrFeNiTi0.5 alloy. The crystalline structure of as-cast CoCrFeNiTi0.5 alloy consisted of the principal face-centered cubic (FCC) dendrite phase plus (Ni, Ti)-rich R phase, (Fe, Cr)-rich σ phase, (Co, Ti)-rich Laves phase within the inter-dendrite area. The dendrite contained approximately equivalent amount of Co, Cr, Fe, Ni and a smaller amount of Ti element. After aging treatment in the temperature range of 900-1000°C, the (Co, Ti)-rich phase disappeared while the amount of (Ni, Ti)-rich phase and (Fe, Cr)-rich phase increased. But the volume fraction of FCC dendrite phase increased and the intermetallic phases decreased after aging at 1100°C. The micro-hardness and the macro-hardness of the as-cast CoCrFeNiTi0.5 alloy were HV616.8 and HRC52, respectively. After heat treatment at 1000°C, the micro-hardness and macro-hardness decreased from HV616.8 to HV386.8 and from HRC52 to HRC42.7, respectively.