High-entropy alloys fabricated via powder metallurgy. A critical review

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have attracted a great deal of interest over the last 14 years. One reason for this level of interest is related to these alloys breaking the alloying principles that have been applied for many centuries. Thus, HEAs usually possess a single phase (contrary to expectations according to the composition of the alloy) and exhibit a high level of performance in different properties related to many developing areas in industry. Despite this significant interest, most HEAs have been developed via ingot metallurgy. More recently, powder metallurgy (PM) has appeared as an interesting alternative for further developing this family of alloys to possibly widen the field of nanostructures in HEAs and improve some capabilities of these alloys. In this paper, PM methods applied to HEAs are reviewed, and some possible ways to develop the use of powders as raw materials are introduced.     

低成本高性能粉末冶金钛合金

粉末冶金是短流程制备低成本、高性能钛及钛合金的有效方法。低成本氢化脱氢（HDH）钛粉可用于制备粉末冶金钛合金制件,但由于受间隙原子含量高、烧结致密度低和微观组织粗大等因素影响,使粉末冶金钛制品的组织性能优势得不到发挥。实验采用氢化脱氢钛粉—冷等静压—真空烧结的技术路线制备了Ti-6Al-4V烧结坯,间隙原子含量低（O<0.16 wt.%, N<0.05 wt.%, H<0.015 wt.%）,具有均匀细小的近等轴?组织,良好的室温拉伸性能（UTS>930 MPa, YS>870 MPa, El>14%）。实验同时表明了HDH工艺制备低间隙原子含量钛粉的可行性,间隙原子含量的增加主要源于粉末及压坯的操作、转移和储存过程。得益于粉末冶金钛合金的细晶和近终成形特点,它无需通过开坯锻造,并且近成型的烧结坯能够提高材料利用率,减少后续热加工变形量及加工道次。因此,以粉末钛合金烧结坯替代锻坯进行后续的塑性加工能够大幅度降低钛合金构件及型材的成本。     

FeCoCrNiMo high-entropy alloys prepared by powder metallurgy processing for diamond tool applications

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) show good mechanical properties like high strength, hardness and wear resistance, and this makes them attractive for application in diamond tools. However, there are severe obstacles to improving the mechanical properties of normal diamond tools with metal-matrix alloys. Here, we report the formation of FeCoCrNiMo HEAs by powder metallurgy processing, starting from a gas-atomised powder followed by mechanical milling and consolidation by spark plasma sintering. Our results show that FeCoCrNiMo HEAs with pure FCC phase can be obtained by this method. Specimens with higher hardness can be obtained at higher temperatures and low pressures, while specimens with higher bending strength are formed at lower temperatures and pressures. FeCoCrNiMo HEAs have remarkably higher hardness and better wear behaviour than metal-matrices commonly in used diamond tools, which indicates that a new type of diamond tool with superior properties can be realised from HEAs.

Special theme block on high entropy alloys, guest edited by Paula Alvaredo Olmos, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain, and Sheng Guo, Chalmers University, Gothenburg, Sweden.     

Martensitic stabilization and defects induced by deformation in TiNi shape memory alloys

Martensitic stabilization caused by deformation in a TiNi shape memory alloy was studied.Special attention was paid to the deformed microstructures to identify the cause of martensitic stabilization.Martensitic stabilization was demonstrated by differential scanning calorimetry for the tensioned TiNi shape memory alloy.Transmission electron microscopy revealed that antiphase boundaries were formed because of the fourfold dissociation of[110]B19'super lattice dislocations and were preserved after reverse transformation due to the lattice correspondence.Martensitic stabilization was attributed to dislocations induced by deformation,which reduced the ordering degree of the microstructure,spoiled the reverse path from martensite to parent phase compared with thermoelastic transformation,and imposed resistance on phase transformation through the stress field.     

Fe对Ni-Mn-Ga形状记忆合金相变和力学性能的影响

研究了Fe含量对Ni₅₆Mn_25-xFe_xGa₁₉(x=0~10)合金的微观组织结构、相变行为、力学性能和记忆特性的影响规律.当x ≤ 4时,Ni₅₆Mn_25-xFe_xGa₁₉合金仍然保持着单一的四方结构马氏体相;当x ≥ 6时,合金呈现为马氏体相和面心立方γ相组成的双相结构.相对于马氏体相,γ相为富Ni和富Fe相,其含量随Fe含量的增加而增加.随着Fe含量增加,合金的马氏体相变温度逐渐降低,其峰值温度从x=0时的356℃降低至x=10时的170℃,这主要归因于马氏体相尺寸因素和电子浓度的综合作用.通过添加Fe替代Mn在合金中引入的γ相可提高合金的强度和塑性,但最大形状记忆回复应变从x=0时的5.0%降低到x=6时的2.0%.     

Fe-Ni-Si基奥氏体时效合金的马氏体相变和形状记忆效应

It is well known that the morphologies of the α martensite formed from the γ phase in ferrous alloys are classified into five types of lath, butterfly, (225)A type plate,lenticular and thin-plate. Among those α martensites, onlythe thinplate martensite, which is characterized by containing a high density of transformation twins, has a potential of exhibiting a perfect shape memory (SM) effect.Recently the present authors found in Fe-Ni-Si alloys that the thin-plate martensite is formed by the introduction of fine and coherent γ-(Ni,Fe)3Si particles with a L12 ordered structure in the austenite matrix due to ausaging. In the present study, the SM properties of the ausaged Fe-Ni-Si alloys with the thin-plate martensite are investigated by a conventional bending-test. The effects of the addition of Co to the Fe-Ni-Si alloys on the martensitic transformation and the SM properties are also investigated. It is shown that while the ausaged Fe-Ni-Si ternary alloys exhibit an imperfect SM effect due to reverse transformation from stress-induced thin-plate martensite to austenite, the SM properties are improved by the addition of Co. An almost perfect SM effect is confirmed in the Fe-Ni-Si-Co alloys by heating to 1 100 ℃ after deformation at -196 ℃.     

Effects of strain aging at 373 K in wires of NiTi shape memory alloy

Abstract

Strain and temperature aging for a NiTi shape memory alloy is performed at 373 K, using wires of 2·46 mm and eventually 0·5 mm in diameter. Aging under large strains modifies the hysteresis shape and induces an increase in the maximal stress in the transformation from 600 to 800–1000 MPa (wires of 2·46 mm). On applying a strain up to 7–8%, the effect according to the initial state is close to 50 MPa per month of strain–temperature aging. The results enable efficient NiTi damper application from 233 to 323 K. A partial study of wires of 0·5 mm shows quantitatively different effects.