Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Co-Cr-Mo-Si-Y-Zr High Entropy Alloy

Abstract

Presented work was focused on obtaining new, up to our knowledge, non-described previously in the literature high entropy Co15Cr15Mo25Si15Y15Zr15 alloy to fill in the knowledge gap about the six-elemental alloys located in the adjacent to the center of phase diagrams. Material was obtained using vacuum arc melting. Phase analysis revealed the presence of a multi-phase structure. Scanning electron microscopy microstructure analysis revealed the existence of three different phases with partially dendritic structures. Chemical analysis showed that all phases consist of all six principal elements—however, with different proportions. Transmission electron microscopy microstructure analysis confirmed the presence of amorphous and nanocrystalline areas, as well as their mixture. For the studied alloy, any phase transformation and solid-state crystallization were not revealed in the temperature range from room temperature up to 1350 °C. Nanoindentation measurements revealed high nanohardness (13(2) GPa and 18(1) GPa for dendritic and interdendritic regions, respectively) and relatively low Young’s modulus (185(23) GPa and 194(9) GPa for dendritic and interdendritic regions, respectively) of the observed phases.