Achieving excellent uniform tensile ductility and strength in dislocation-cell-structured high-entropy alloys

Abstract

Body-centered-cubic (BCC) high-entropy alloys (HEAs) encounter significant challenges in obtaining a high uniform tensile ductility (UTD). A dense dislocation-cell (DC) structure is produced in a heterogeneously grained HEA under tensile deformation, resulting from the anchored dislocation motion by grain interior elemental segregation. This fluctuation in elemental concentration is facilitated by thermomechanical processing. The activation of multiple-slip mechanisms, prompted by strain incompatibility among grains of varying sizes, significantly propels this process forward. This novel DC structure simultaneously increased the UTD (by 349.1 %) and yield strength (${\sigma }_{0.2}$, by 29.0 %) for a stable BCC HEA. Specifically, the single-phase alloy achieved a record-high UTD of 7.5 % and an ${\sigma }_{0.2}$ of > 1,200 MPa, outperforming the counterparts of all the single-phase BCC HEAs. We employed a combination of transmission electron microscopy, in-situ scanning electron microscopy tensile testing coupled with an electron backscatter diffraction technology to investigate underlying strengthening mechanisms and identified that the serious stress concentration as a result of prevalent planar slip caused premature failure and localized strain of common BCC HEAs. At the initial stage of deformation, the DC structure promoted the activation of multiple slip systems and facilitated the extension of a plastic flow across the sample volume, effectively weakening stress concentration and premature failure. The extended plasticity zone and intensified dislocation interactions contributed to the increased UTD and ${\sigma }_{0.2}$. These findings offer valuable inspiration for tailoring alloy properties via microstructure strategies and promoting their adoption in advanced manufacturing.