Abstract
High-entropy alloy (HEA), as a class of new alloy materials characterized by high stability, excellent specific strength and corrosion resistance, has attracted much attention in the field of aluminum matrix composites (AMCs). To study the effect on microstructure and mechanical properties of aluminum alloys, AlCoCrFeNi HEA particles reinforced ADC12 composites were fabricated by high energy ultrasonic casting process. Subsequently, the effect of HEAs addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of ADC12 alloys was investigated. Results show that the added HEA particles are tightly bonded to the aluminum matrix. The Al2Cu phase in the matrix is refined. Meanwhile, the tensile strength and microhardness of the alloys with the addition of HEA particles are significantly improved. The yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of as-prepared composites with 12wt% HEAs are increased by 16.9% and 21.9% compared with those of the matrix, respectively. The wear rate of the composites is also decreased due to the enhancement of microhardness under applied load of 20 N. It is mainly attributed to the load transfer strengthening, dislocation proliferation and the optimization of the microstructure.
Aluminum matrix composite (AMC), an important component of metal matrix composite, has replaced single types of alloys in a variety of structural and other applications due to its enhanced properties such as high specific strength as well as excellent mechanical and tribological propertie
Recently, the application of high-entropy alloy (HEA) particles in composites has attracted much attention because HEAs, as a new type of metallic material, not only have natural metallic properties, but also possess physicochemical characteristics such as high strength, high hardness, high stability, and good abrasion and corrosion resistanc
As we know, ADC12 aluminum alloy with good weld-ability, fluidity and filler-forming properties is widely used in the fields of rail transportation, energy construction and aerospace and aviation. With the rapid development of science and technology, aluminum alloys such as ADC12 with high strength, plasticity and wear resistance are strongly demanded in industrializatio
The HEAs used in this research with an average particle diameter of 44.81 μm were provided by Hunan Tianjiu Co., Ltd and prepared by mechanical alloying. Five pure metal powders (purity≥99.9%, particle size≤50 µm) of Al, Cr, Fe, Ni and Co were used to prepare the particles by mechanical ball milling in argon atmosphere at a speed of 200 r/min.

Fig.1 SEM image of AlCoCrFeNi HEAs (a) and EDS line scan spectra along red line in Fig.1a
Co | Cr | Fe | Ni | Al |
---|---|---|---|---|
24.97 | 21.34 | 23.55 | 24.54 | Bal. |
Cu | Fe | Si | Zn | Mg | Al |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
≤3.5 | 1.2‒1.5 | 9‒12 | 0.5 | 0.3 | Bal. |
HEA powder was briquetted, cut into pellets and added to the melt. ADC12 ingot was firstly placed in an alumina crucible and melted in a resistance furnace at 750 °C. Sub-sequently, the prepared HEAs pellets were added to the melt when the ingot had been completely melted. After that, the preheated ultrasonic probe was extended to the position 20 mm below the melt surface and ultrasound (900 W, 20 kHz) was applied for approximately 5 min. Finally, the melt was poured into a preheated steel mold (400 °C) when the melt temperature dropped to 700 °C. The matrix was cast by the same process with the same ultrasonic power and time for the comparison of microstructure as well as mechanical property.
Wear tests were carried out using a pin-on-steel disk tribomete
The optical microstructures of the prepared composite samples were observed with an optical microscope (OM, Nikon ECLIPSE MA200) combined with SEM. The hardness of all samples was measured with a micro-Vickers hardness tester (HVS 1000A). Mechanical properties and strengthening effect were explored by tensile tests (

Fig.2 Tensile sample of the fabricated composite
In order to investigate the presence form of HEA particles in HEA/ADC12 composites, the element mappings analysis of ADC12 alloy containing 7wt% HEAs was carried out by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and EDS, as shown in

Fig.3 TEM image (a) and EDS element mappings (b‒f) of HEAs in composites

Fig.4 TEM images of morphology (a) and magnified interface (b) of 7wt% HEAs/ADC12 composites
Typical microstructures of ADC12 alloys with various HEA contents are shown in

Fig.5 Microstructures of alloy with different HEA particles additions: (a) 0wt%, (b) 7wt%, and (c) 12wt%

Fig.6 SEM images of ADC12 aluminum alloys free of HEAs (a) and with 12wt% HEAs (b); EDS results of area 1 (c) and area 2 (d) in Fig.6b

Fig.7 Tensile stress-tensile strain curves (a) and Vickers hard- ness (b) of composites with different contents of HEAs
Material | YS/MPa | UTS/MPa | Elongation/% |
---|---|---|---|
ADC12 | 155.0±5.26 | 185±4.82 | 2.47±0.27 |
7wt% HEAs/ADC12 | 171.6±3.42 | 219±3.20 | 2.75±0.23 |
12wt% HEAs/ADC12 | 180.0±4.40 | 237±4.20 | 2.13±0.14 |

Fig.8 Fracture morphologies of ADC12 alloy (a), 7wt% HEAs/ADC12 composite (b), and 12wt% HEAs/ADC12 composite (c); EDS results of area 1 in Fig.8b (d)

Fig.9 SEM morphologies of worn surfaces for as-cast ADC12 alloy (a), 7wt% HEAs/ADC12 composite (b), and 12wt% HEAs/ADC12 composite (c)

Fig.10 Transient COF (a‒c) and average wear rate (d) of the composites with different HEAs contents under 20 N: (a) HEAs-free, (b) 7wt%, and (c) 12wt%
The average wear rates of the test samples are exhibited in
The theoretical YS enhancement values of composites due to the addition of HEAs can be analyzed by two main enhancement mechanisms, which are considered to be load transfer strengthening and dislocation strengthening.
(1) Load transfer strengthening. External loads are transferred from the matrix to the reinforcement via interfacial shear stresses, which contribute to the reinforcement to assume loads in tension or compression state of the alloy. This strengthening mechanism should be based on excellent interfacial bond between the HEA particles and the martix. The incremental expression for the contribution of this mechanism to the YS of the composite can be calculated by the following equatio
(1) |
where ∆σLT is the increment value of yield strength, fv is the volume fraction and σm is the YS of the matrix. Here, YS of the matrix is equal to 154 MPa. Based on volume-to-mass conversion, 3.9vol%‒6.3vol% HEAs can be obtained. Thus, the theoretically calculated value is 2.96‒4.8 MPa.
(2) Dislocation strengthening. Dislocation strengthening is considered to be another important strengthening mechanism in composites that cannot be ignored. The variability in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the matrix material and HEAs leads to a large number of dislocations in the composite, as shown in
(2) |

Fig.11 HRTEM image of dislocations in composites
where G and b are shear modulus of the matrix (Al) and the value of Burgers vector (0.286 nm), respectively; ∆T and ∆C represent the difference between the preparation temperature (720 °C) and room temperature (20 °C) and the difference in coefficient of thermal expansion, respectively; dp is the equivalent diameter of HEAs. The theoretically YS value calculated by
As can be seen from the current calculations, the YS values of the actually measured values show a small deviation from the sum of theoretical values of YS obtained by the two strengthening mechanisms. The small deviation of the values is mainly due to two reasons: the inevitable HEAs fragmentation due to high energy sonication as well as atomic diffusio
In addition, it is found that the wear resistance of the prepared composites is enhanced. The resistance to plastic deformation of fabricated composites is improved, as shown in
1) After the addition of HEAs to the ADC12 melt, the α-Al dendrites are refined. The bulk Si phase as well as the Al2Cu phase shows granular distribution at the grain boundaries.
2) The UTS and YS of 12wt% HEAs/ADC12 composites are 237 and 180.0 MPa, which are higher than those of the matrix alloy by 21.9% and 16.9%, respectively. Accordingly, the microhardness of the composite is 999.60 MPa, which is 25% higher than that of the matrix.
3) The addition of HEAs results in a significant increase in the abrasion resistance and a decrease in the COF. The COF and the wear rate decrease from 0.350 and 22.7×1
4) The improvement in the mechanical properties of the composites can be attributed to the dislocation proliferation, load transfer mechanism and optimization of the microstructure.
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