Simultaneously healing cracks and strengthening additively manufactured Co_(34)Cr_(32)Ni_(27)Al_(4)Ti_(3) high-entropy alloy by utilizing Fe-based metallic glasses as a glue

Solidification cracking issues during additive manufacturing(AM)severely prevent the rapid development and broad application of this method.In this work,a representative Co_(34)Cr_(32)Ni_(27)Al_(4)Ti_(3) high-entropy al-loy(HEA)susceptible to crack formation was fabricated by selective laser melting(SLM).As expected,many macroscopic cracks appeared.The crack issues were successfully solved after introducing a certain amount of Fe-based metallic glass(MG)powder as a glue during SLM.The effect of MG addition on the formation and distribution of defects in the SLM-processed HEA was quantitatively investigated.With an increasing mass fraction of the MG,the dominant defects transformed from cracks to lack of fusion(LOF)defects and finally disappeared.Intriguingly,the MG preferred to be segregated to the boundaries of the molten pool.Moreover,the coarse columnar crystals gradually transformed into equiaxed crystals in the molten pool and fine-equiaxed crystals at the edge of the molten pool,inhibiting the initiation of cracks and providing extra grain boundary strengthening.Furthermore,multiple precipitates are formed at the boundaries of cellular structures,which contribute significantly to strengthening.Compared to the brit-tle SLM-processed Co_(34)Cr_(32)Ni_(27)Al_(4)Ti_(3) HEA,the SLM-processed HEA composite exhibited a high ultimate tensile strength greater than 1.4 Ga and enhanced elongation.This work demonstrates that adding Fe-based MG powders as glues into SLM-processed HEAs may be an attractive method to heal cracks and simultaneously enhance the mechanical properties of additively manufactured products.

Abnormal mechanochemical effect in ultraprecision machining of an additively manufactured precipitation-strengthened high-entropy alloy

Recently,researchers have explored the use of precipitation strengthening and finer microstructures with high-density dislocations in additive manufacturing to produce high-entropy alloys(HEAs)with adjustable properties.However,the inherent surface roughness and lack of machinability research in AMed HEAs limit their engineering applications.In this study,we systematically investigated the microstructural characteristics,mechanical properties,and machinability of Fe_(29.3)Co_(28.7)Ni_(28.6)Al_(6.8)Ti_(6.6)(at.%)HEAs with three different structures:single FCC phase cellular(SPC),dual precipitation-strengthened(DPS),and single precipitation-strengthened(SPS).These structures were fabricated by selective laser melting and isothermally annealing at 780 and 940℃.Compared to SPC HEA,DPS HEA exhibits a significant increase in yield strength and ultimate tensile strength but with a dramatic sacrifice in ductility.SPS HEA exhibits similar mechanical properties to SPC HEA due to the pronounced coarsening of L21 precipitates.The ultraprecision machining micro-cutting test showed that SPC HEA had a significant mechanochem-ical effect,as evidenced by a sharp drop in cutting force for inked workpieces,but not DPS HEA.An abnormal finding was that the negligible reflection of cutting force for SPS HEAs suggested a negative mechanochemical effect,even though SPS HEA had equally excellent plasticity like SPC HEA.It was found that nanocrystallization-induced strength enhancement and ductility reduction of SPS HEA lead to chips’deformation dominated by shear avalanche rather than chip folding of SPC HEA,which involves the reduction of surface energy and friction of chips’interfaces.Overall,these results and our research findings may guide the machining of AMed precipitation-strengthened HEAs and accelerate their engineering ap-plication.

Dual precipitate simultaneous enhancement of tensile and fatigue strength in(FeCoNi)_(86)Al_(7)Ti_(7) high-entropy alloy fabricated using selective laser melting

Recent studies have indicated that precipitation-strengthened high-entropy alloys(HEAs)show superior mechanical performance and have been successfully fabricated by additive manufacturing.However,the lack of fatigue and fracture research has limited the engineering applications of additive manufacturing HEAs.This work explored a dual precipitation-strengthened(FeCoNi)_(86)Al_(7)Ti_(7) HEA with excellent tensile and fatigue strength,prepared through selective laser melting and heat treatment.Compared with the as-built samples,the tensile properties and fatigue endurance limit improved through aging by 48.7%and 30%,respectively.The strengthening mechanism and enhanced fatigue performance were clarified in detail.The improvement in fatigue strength was attributed to the improved resistance of the L1_(2) and L2_(1) precipitates.During deformation,the dislocation shear coherent L1_(2) precipitates reduced slip band energy and inhibited slip band expansion,while the L2_(1) particles acted as obstructions for further slip band propagation,severely limiting the rapid formation and propagation of crack growth.In-situ TEM cyclic tensile-tensile testing also clarified the fatigue crack growth behavior,demonstrating that crack deflection due to L2_(1) precipitate obstruction slowed down the crack growth rate and efficiently promoted the closure of the microcrack tips.This work offers im plications for a new strategy to develop additive manufacturing HEAs.

Multistage strain-hardening behavior of ultrastrong and ductile lightweight refractory complex-concentrated alloys

Lightweight high-entropy alloys or complex-concentrated alloys have demonstrated great potential for engineering applications due to their high strength and lightweight.However,a weak strain-hardening ability and a limited tensile ductility remain their major hindrance.Here,a multistage strain-hardening effect is developed to ensure a high strength and still a sufficient ductility in a rolled and annealed(Ti_(44)V_(28)Zr_(14)Nb_(14))_(98.5)Mo_(1.5)(at.%)lightweight refractory complex-concentrated alloy(M1.5A-LRCCA).This multistage strain-hardening behavior is related to the microstructure and the corresponding initial aver-age dislocation density and distribution by comparison with rolled and annealed Ti_(44)V_(28)Zr_(14)Nb_(14)(M0-LRCCA)and as-cast(Ti_(44)V_(28)Zr_(14)Nb_(14))_(98.5)Mo_(1.5)(M1.5C-LRCCA).The microstructure,with homogeneously distributed submicron precipitations,a moderate initial average dislocation density,and uniform disloca-tion distribution(e.g.,M1.5A-LRCCA),is susceptible to producing various deformation substructures,such as dislocation substructures(slip bands,Taylor lattices,microbands,DDWs),shear bands,and deformation twins,which results in the multistage strain-hardening behavior.This method of achieving multistage strain hardening behavior through a microstructure modulation is significant for engineering applications of lightweight high-entropy alloys or complex-concentrated alloys,and it might be extended to other lightweight and high-strength alloys.