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Nanomechanical behavior and structural stability of a nanocrystalline CoCrFeNiMn high-entropy alloy processed by high-pressure torsion

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Abstract

A CoCrFeNiMn high-entropy alloy (HEA), in the form of a face-centered cubic (fcc) solid solution, was processed by high-pressure torsion (HPT) to produce a nanocrystalline (nc) HEA. Significant grain refinement was achieved from the very early stage of HPT through 1/4 turn and an nc structure with an average grain size of ∼40 nm was successfully attained after 2 turns. The feasibility of significant microstructural changes was attributed to the occurrence of accelerated atomic diffusivity under the torsional stress during HPT. Nanoindentation experiments showed that the hardness increased significantly in the nc HEA during HPT processing and this was associated with additional grain refinement. The estimated values of the strain-rate sensitivity were maintained reasonably constant from the as-cast condition to the nc alloy after HPT through 2 turns, thereby demonstrating a preservation of plasticity in the HEA. In addition, a calculation of the activation volume suggested that the grain boundaries play an important role in the plastic deformation of the nc HEA where the flow mechanism is consistent with other nc metals. Transmission electron microscopy showed that, unlike conventional fcc nc metals, the nc HEA exhibits excellent microstructural stability under severe stress conditions.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The research of JIJ and DHL was supported in part by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIP) (No. 2013R1A1A2A10058551), and in part by the Human Resources Development program of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant funded by the Korea government (MOTIE) (No. 20134030200360). The work of MK was supported in part by the NRF Korea funded by MoE under Grant No. NRF-2014R1A1A2057697. The work of TGL was supported by the National Science Foundation of the United States under Grant No. DMR-1160966 and by the European Research Council under ERC Grant Agreement No. 267464-SPDMETALS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, 133-791, South Korea

    Dong-Hyun Lee, In-Chul Choi, Moo-Young Seok, Megumi Kawasaki & Jae-il Jang

  2. State Key Laboratory for Advance Metals and Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 10083, People’s Republic of China

    Junyang He & Zhaoping Lu

  3. High Temperature Energy Materials Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, 136-791, Republic of Korea

    Jin-Yoo Suh

  4. Departments of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 90089-1453, USA

    Terence G. Langdon

  5. Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, Materials Research Group, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Terence G. Langdon

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  1. Dong-Hyun Lee
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Lee, DH., Choi, IC., Seok, MY. et al. Nanomechanical behavior and structural stability of a nanocrystalline CoCrFeNiMn high-entropy alloy processed by high-pressure torsion. Journal of Materials Research 30, 2804–2815 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2015.239

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