Recent Advances in Additive Manufacturing of High Entropy Alloys and Their Nuclear and Wear-Resistant Applications

Abstract

Alloying has been very common practice in materials engineering to fabricate metals of desirable properties for specific applications. Traditionally, a small amount of the desired material is added to the principal metal. However, a new alloying technique emerged in 2004 with the concept of adding several principal elements in or near equi-atomic concentrations. These are popularly known as high entropy alloys (HEAs) which can have a wide composition range. A vast area of this composition range is still unexplored. The HEAs research community is still trying to identify and characterize the behaviors of these alloys under different scenarios to develop high-performance materials with desired properties and make the next class of advanced materials. Over the years, understanding of the thermodynamics theories, phase stability and manufacturing methods of HEAs has improved. Moreover, HEAs have also shown retention of strength and relevant properties under extreme tribological conditions and radiation. Recent progresses in these fields are surveyed and discussed in this review with a focus on HEAs for use under extreme environments (i.e., wear and irradiation) and their fabrication using additive manufacturing.