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Acta Metall Sin  2025, Vol. 61 Issue (10): 1502-1514    DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00002
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Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of the Fe50Mn29Co10Cr10Cu1 High-Entropy Alloy Regulated by Rolling Temperature
WANG Jiajun1, YUAN Ye1, HE Zhufeng1, ZHU Mingwei2(), JIA Nan1()
1 Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
2 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenyang Aerospace University, Shenyang 110136, China
Cite this article: 

WANG Jiajun, YUAN Ye, HE Zhufeng, ZHU Mingwei, JIA Nan. Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of the Fe50Mn29Co10Cr10Cu1 High-Entropy Alloy Regulated by Rolling Temperature. Acta Metall Sin, 2025, 61(10): 1502-1514.

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Abstract  

Face-centered-cubic high-entropy alloys have attracted extensive attention due to their comprehensive mechanical and other properties. However, these alloys suffer from low yield strength, making it imperative to develop alloys with high yield and tensile strengths. This study systematically investigates the microstructural characteristics and tensile mechanical properties of the Fe50Mn29-Co10Cr10Cu1 high-entropy alloy processed by rolling at three temperatures (-196, 25, and 300 °C) followed by annealing. The aim is to elucidate the deformation mechanisms associated with different processing routes and their influences on strength and ductility. During uniaxial tensile deformation, deformation twins produced by liquid-nitrogen and room-temperature rolling along with lath-like reversed austenite impede dislocation slip, thereby improving the yield strength of the alloy. In contrast, the alloy processed by warm rolling and annealing shows few deformation twins, with dislocation slip and stacking faults dominating as the deformation mechanisms. The alloy processed by liquid-nitrogen rolling followed by 500 oC annealing exhibits high yield strength but poor plasticity. Conversely, alloys rolled at room temperature and 300 oC followed by 500 oC annealing demonstrate higher yield strengths and certain degree of work hardening capability, showing corresponding yield strengths of 752 and 604 MPa, tensile strengths of 917 and 784 MPa, and uniform elongations of 11.2% and 26.2%. The differing microstructures resulting from processing at varied temperatures and subsequent annealing lead to significant differences in mechanical behavior under tensile testing.

Key words:  high-entropy alloy      rolling temperature      deformation mechanism      strengthening and toughening     
Received:  05 January 2024     
ZTFLH:  TG146.2  
Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(52371097);National Natural Science Foundation of China(52301135);National Natural Science Foundation of China(51922026)

URL: 

https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00002     OR     https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2025/V61/I10/1502

Fig.1  XRD spectra of samples prepared by rolling and annealing before (a) and after (b) tensile tests (LNR—liquid nitrogen rolling, CR—cold rolling at room temperature, WR—warm rolling, AN—annealing)
SampleTensile testfcchcp
LNR40% + AN500 oCBefore90.59.5
After85.814.2
CR40% + AN500 oCBefore92.37.7
After88.012.0
WR40% + AN500 oCBefore91.68.4
After87.712.3
LNR40% + AN800 oCBefore97.52.5
CR40% + AN800 oCBefore94.06.0
WR40% + AN800 oCBefore85.514.5
Table 1  Phase compositions of the samples prepared by rolling and annealing before and after tensile tests
Fig.2  SEM images (a-f) and grain size distribution maps (g-i) of the samples prepared by different processing routes (d—average grain size, RD—rolling direction, ND—normal direction )
(a) LNR40% + AN500 oC (b) CR40% + AN500 oC (c) WR40% + AN500 oC (d, g) LNR40% + AN800 oC (e, h) CR40% + AN800 oC (f, i) WR40% + AN800 oC
Fig.3  EBSD maps of LNR40% + AN500 oC (a1-a4), CR40% + AN500 oC (b1-b4), and WR40% + AN500 oC (c1-c4) samples
(a1-c1) band contrast maps (a2-c2) phase distribution maps (High-angle boundaries with misorientation angles larger than 10° are indicated by black solid lines, low-angle boundaries with misorientation angles between 3° and 10° are indicated by thin black solid lines, and Σ3 twin boundaries in the fcc phase are indicated by white solid lines) (a3-c3) kernel average misorientation maps (a4-c4) inverse pole figures parallel to the tensile axis
Fig.4  TEM images and the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns (insets) of the LNR40% + AN500 oC sample showing deformation twins (a), twin intersection (b), microbands (c), and dislocation cells (d) (T—twin, BF—bright field, DF—dark field)
Fig.5  TEM images and the SAED patterns (insets) of the CR40% + AN500 oC sample showing deformation twins with different directions (a), microbands (b), and dislocation cells (c)
Fig.6  TEM images and the SAED patterns (insets) of the WR40% + AN500 oC sample showing dislocation cells (a), deformation twins (b), and stacking faults (c); high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) image and fast Fourier transform (FFT) (inset) pattern of stacking faults (d)
Fig.7  Engineering stress-strain curves (a), true stress-strain curves (b), and strain hardening rate curves (c) of the samples prepared by different processing routes
Fig.8  TEM images and the SAED patterns (insets) of the samples prepared by cold rolling showing deformation twins and martensite (a), martensite with different directions in one grain (b), and HRTEM image and FFT of martensite in Fig.8b (c)
Fig.9  Modified Williamson-Hall (MWH) plots (a), and strengthening contributions to yield strength (b) of samples prepared by rolling and 500 and 800 oC annealing (GB—grain boundary, TB—twin boundary; K = 2sinθ / λ, ΔK = 2cosθΔθ / λ, λ—wavelength of X-ray, θ—diffraction angle, Δθ—full width at half maximum of diffraction peak, C¯—average dislocation contrast factor)
Fig.10  TEM images and the SAED patterns (insets) of the samples after tensile test
(a, b) deformation twins in the CR40% + AN500 oC sample (The right figures in Fig.10b are the corresponding dark-field TEM images) (c, d) stacking faults (c) and deformation twins (d) in the WR40% + AN500 oC sample and corresponding SAED patterns (insets)
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