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Resistance of CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy to gaseous hydrogen embrittlement

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The influence of hydrogen on the mechanical behavior of the CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) was examined through tensile and nanoindentation experiments on specimens hydrogenated via gaseous and electrochemical methods. Results show that the HEA's resistance to gaseous hydrogen embrittlement is better than that of two representative austenitic stainless steels, in spite of the fact that it absorbs a larger amount of hydrogen than the two steels. Reasons for this were discussed in terms of hydrogen-enhanced localized plasticity mechanism and the critical amount of hydrogen required for it. These were further substantiated by additional experiments on electrochemically charged specimens.
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Resistance of CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy to gaseous
hydrogen embrittlement
Yakai Zhao
a
, Dong-Hyun Lee
a
,Moo-YoungSeok
a
,Jung-ALee
a
, M.P. Phaniraj
b
, Jin-Yoo Suh
b,
,
Heon-Young Ha
c
, Ju-Young Kim
d
, Upadrasta Ramamurty
e
, Jae-il Jang
a,
a
Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea
b
High Temperature Energy Materials Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 02792, Republic of Korea
c
Ferrous Alloys Group, Korea Institute of Materials Science, Changwon 51508, Republic of Korea
d
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
e
Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India
abstractarticle info
Article history:
Received 7 February 2017
Received in revised form 12 March 2017
Accepted 24 March 2017
Available online xxxx
The inuence of hydrogen onthe mechanical behavior of the CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) was exam-
ined through tensile and nanoindentation experiments on specimens hydrogenated via gaseous and electro-
chemical methods. Results show that the HEA's resistance to gaseous hydrogen embrittlement is better than
that of two representative austenitic stainless steels, in spite of the fact that it absorbs a larger amount of hydro-
gen than the two steels. Reasons for this were discussed in terms of hydrogen-enhanced localized plasticity
mechanism and the critical amount of hydrogen required for it. These were further substantiated by additional
experiments on electrochemically charged specimens.
© 2017 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
High-entropy alloy
Hydrogen embrittlement
Tensile test
Nanoindentation
Thermal desorption spectroscopy
High-entropy alloys (HEAs) that comprise of three or more (nearly-)
equiatomic metallic elements have attracted signicant research atten-
tion since they were rst introduced about a decade back [1,2] as they
show exceptional mechanical properties, especially high strength-duc-
tility combinations at both elevated and cryogenic temperatures [39].
However, HEAs' susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement (HE) [10
14], if any, was not examined in detail. Future structural components
made of HEAs are likely to be exposed to hydrogen (H) in the working
environment of a number of potential applications. Some such exam-
ples are high-content H in the water reactor environment of nuclear
power plants [15],H
2
gas in moist environments like ambient air in
aerospace structures [16],andHstoredeitherasliquidincryogenicves-
sels for space shuttles [17,18] or as gas in high-pressure vessels for H
transportation/storage [17]. Keeping this in view, it is essential to
study the effect of H on the mechanical behavior of HEAs, which is the
purpose of the work reported in this paper.
For this, we have selected CoCrFeMnNi HEA, which is one of the
most widely investigated HEAs to date, as it crystallizes into a remark-
ably stable face-centered cubic (fcc) single phase [1,19]. It exhibits ex-
ceptional ductility and fracture toughness at cryogenic temperatures
[6,20] and good resistance to creep [7]. HE of this alloy upon gaseous
H charging was examined, since the sources of H that cause embrittle-
ment are generally gaseous in nature, and compared with that of two
austenitic stainless steels (SSs), 304 and 316L. Like HEA, these SSs also
have fcc crystal structure. Moreover, the main constituent elements in
all the three alloys are the same; they only differ in relative content in
each alloy [5]. Importantly, since the effect of H on SSs has been exten-
sively studied (e.g. Refs. [10,2225].), well-documented data is readily
available for comparison.
The CoCrFeMnNi HEA samples were prepared by vacuum induction
casting of nominal mixtures of the corresponding metals with purity
higher than 99 wt%. The cast ingot was hot-forged and then solution
annealed at 1100 °C for 1 h to reach an equilibrium microstructural
state. The annealed sample has a single fcc phase. The backscattered
electron (BSE) image obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM;
Nova NanoSEM 450, FEI Inc., Hillsboro, OR, USA) displayed in Fig. 1
shows homogeneous equiaxed grains with an average grain size of
~34 μm. For comparison purpose, solution-annealed 304 and 316L
steels were also prepared. The nominal compositions of HEA and the
two SSs are given in Table 1. All the HEA and SS specimens tested in
this study (irrespective of H charging) were always ground initially
with ne SiC papers (grit number up to 2000) and then with colloidal
silica (0.05 μm) to a mirror nish, resulting in a nal thickness of
~300 μm.
Scripta Materialia 135 (2017) 5458
Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: jinyoo@kist.re.kr (J.-Y. Suh), jijang@hanyang.ac.kr (J. Jang).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2017.03.029
1359-6462/© 2017 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Scripta Materialia
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scriptamat
Gaseous H charging (referred to as G-charging hereafter) of the HEA
and two SS specimens wasperformed in a custom-made Sieverts appa-
ratus at 300 °C under constant pressure of 15 MPa of gaseous H
2
for 72 h.
In addition, electrochemical H charging (E-charging, hereafter) of the
HEA was performed at RT using a potentiostat/galvanostat equipment
(HA-151A, Hokuto Denko, Tokyo, Japan) in 1 N H
2
SO
4
solution for
24 h under a constant current density of 100 mA/cm
2
. To minimize
the inuence of outgassing, all the charged samples were immediately
immersed always into liquid nitrogen and stored until further experi-
ments, which were completed, in any case, within ~24 h after charging.
Flat dog-bone-shaped tensile samples with gauge length of 10 mm
and gauge width of 1 mm were wire cut from the annealed bulk speci-
mens. Tensile tests were carried out on these uncharged and G-charged
subsize samples using a micro-tensile tester (MTest 300, Gatan Inc.,
Pleasanton, CA, USA) at a cross-head speed of 0.1 mm/min. Nanoinden-
tation experiments were conducted using Nanoindenter-XP (formerly
MTS; now Keysight Technologies, Santa Rosa, CA, USA) with two differ-
ent three-sided pyramidal indenters (typical Berkovich and sharper
cube-corner tips) at a peak load, P
max
, of 100 mN under constant inden-
tation strain rate _
ε=(dh/dt)/h= 0.025 s
1
where his indentation
depth and tis the time. Fractography on the tensile tested samples
and imaging of the indentation impressions was performed by SEM.
The indentation impressions were additionally proled with an atomic
force spectroscope (AFM; XE-100, Park Systems, Suwon, Korea). For the
quantitative analysis of the H content in the charged samples, thermal
desorption spectroscopy (TDS) was performed with a quadrupole
mass spectroscope (EX0014, R-DEC Company, Tsukuba, Japan) at acon-
stant heating rate of 5 °C/min to a maximum temperature of ~800 °C.
Representative engineering stress vs. engineering strain responses
of the G-charged HEA, 304 and 316L SSs, as well as their uncharged
counterparts are displayed in Fig. 2. As expected, the ductility of both
the SSs gets reduced markedly upon charging. Such embrittlement
was absent in HEA, with the relative loss in ductility due to H charging
being merely ~ 5%. For comparison, it is ~ 61% and ~ 27% for 304 and
316L SSs respectively. It appears that G-charging also does not affect
the yield strength, ow stresses, or strain hardening rate of HEA in
any signicant manner. Fig. 2b and c show both low- and high-magni-
cation fractographs of the tensile tested specimens of HEA in uncharged
and charged conditions, respectively. Both the fracture surface mor-
phologies are similar, and consist of dimples, indicating ductile fracture.
This observation further supports HEA's resistance to H-induced
embrittlement.
Is the superior embrittlementresistance of HEA due, possibly, to the
H content in it being lower than those of the two steels?To answer this
question, the quantity of H in the G-charged HEA, 304, and 316L sam-
ples was measured by TDS, whose results are displayed in Fig. 3. In all
the three cases, the peak desorption occurs at similar temperatures.
This, in turn, indicates that the sites within the fcc lattice, which H oc-
cupies, may be similar in all the three alloys. They correspond to inter-
stitial lattice sites and weak H trapping defects such as dislocations
[26,27]. Importantly, Fig. 3 shows that the desorbed H content from
HEA (~76.5 ppm) is higher than that from either of the SSs. It also is
higher than most literature values of SSs exposed to higher H
2
pressure
than that in the present study [2830]. Since no new phase was found
through X-ray diffraction analysis after H charging of the HEA [21],
such high H solubility may be attributed to the relatively high content
of Cr and Mn in HEA compared to in other austenitic SSs, since the
two elements were found to be crucial in inuencing H solubility [22,
31]. In addition, the lattice distortion in HEA can also be one of the con-
tributing factors for the enhanced solubility as demonstrated for the
solid state H storage application of HEA [32]. On this basis, we conclude
that the absence of HE in HEA is not due to lack of H and seek an alter-
native explanation for it.
Two widely-accepted micromechanismsfor HE in SSs are the follow-
ing: (a) stress-induced austenite-to-martensite transformation [24,28]
and (b) H-enhanced localized plasticity (HELP) [11,33,34].Since
stress-induced transformation was not observed to occur in the
CoCrFeMnNi HEA [6,19,20], the former mechanism can be excluded. In
HELP, the dissolved H enhances local dislocation mobility and slip pla-
narity [25,33], which in turn promotes cleavage fracture. Therefore, HE
through HELP is more pronounced in materials that are already prone
to planar slip [33,34]. Systematic transmission electron microscopy by
George and coworkers [20,35] do indeed show that the CoCrFeMnNi
HEA deforms primarily through planar slip.Therefore, it is natural to an-
ticipate that the HELP mechanism will be of signicance in this HEA. But
planar slip is only a necessary condition for HELP. For it to occur, suf-
ciently high and local H content is also essential [36,37].Thisisespecial-
ly important when H diffusivity is sluggish, which is the case in for fcc
metals and alloys [26]. In contrast, and for example, fast diffusion of H
to highly-stressed regions in body-centered cubic (bcc) metals am-
plies the effect of H on the plastic deformation in them. That high
local H content is necessary for HELP in fcc metals is further supported
by the observation that SSs such as 310 and some 316 steels with high
Ni equivalent, which also do not undergo strain-induced martensitic
transformation, are not prone to HE in H
2
gas atmosphere [22,29,34,
38], but are usually susceptible to HE upon E-charging [23,36,37].This
is because cross-slip dominates plasticity in such SSs and thus HE can
occur if and only if the H content in the SS upon charging is extremely
high, which is possible in E-charging [30,39].
From the above discussion, it is reasonable to conclude that the G-
charged CoCrFeMnNi HEA did not get embrittled possibly because the
local H content upon charging is below the threshold level required
for triggering HELP. To elaborate this further through experiments, the
HEA was exposed to a much harsher H environment through the E-
charging process. Subsequently, nanoindentation was utilized to evalu-
ate and compare the mechanical responses of uncharged, G-charged,
and E-charged samples. Representative nanoindentation loaddisplace-
ment (P-h) curves, obtained by using both Berkovich and cube-corner
indenters, are provided in Fig. 4a. The hardness values, which were
Fig. 1. SEM-BSE image showing the equiaxed grain structure with grain size ~34 μmof
solution-annealed CoCrFeMnNi HEA.
Table 1
Nominal chemical compositions (wt%) of CoCrFeMnNi HEA (transferred from nominal
20 at.% for each element), 304, and 316 SSs.
Co Cr Fe Mn Ni C Si Mo V N Cu
HEA 21.0 18.6 19.9 19.6 20.9
304 0.01 17.74 Bal. 1.05 7.83 0.05 0.56 0.20 0.01 0.006
316L 0.19 16.50 Bal. 1.29 9.77 0.02 0.50 2.07 0.10 0.02 0.27
55Y. Zhao et al. / Scripta Materialia 135 (2017) 5458
estimated from them by the Oliver-Pharr method [40], are summarized
in Table 2. In agreement with the tensile test results, no signicant
change in the hardness is noted upon G-charging. In contrast, substan-
tial enhancement in the hardness (by ~63% in Berkovich and ~37% in
cube corner) occurs upon E-charging.
Observations of the surface morphology around the cube-corner
nanoindentations, displayed in Fig. 4b, provide further support to the
H effects on the indentation-induced plasticity. Cube-corner indenter,
being sharper, induces higher stresses and strains underneath the in-
denter. This, in turn, leads to pronounced impression morphologies
[41,42]. The morphologies around the indents in the uncharged and
G-charged specimens appear similar, with a large number of slip-traces.
These not only conrm the planar nature of slip in the HEA examined,
but also afrm the earlier observation that G-charging does not affect
the plasticity in the HEA in any signicantmanner. In contrast, the num-
ber of slip steps aroundthe indents made on the E-charged sample is far
smaller, conrming a signicantly reduced plasticity upon E-charging. A
comparison of the AFM proles, displayed in Fig. 4b, indicates that both
the height and spacing of the slip steps around nanoindentations in the
E-charged sample are larger than those in the uncharged one. This ob-
servation further supports the notion of reduced cross-slip and thus
more enhanced slip planarity in the former [25]. These observations
provide evidence for the reduced plastic deformation susceptibility
and enhanced slip planarity by E-charging vis-à-vis G-charging.
At this juncture, it is interestingto note that the overall H content in
the E-charged CoCrFeMnNi HEA specimen, which we have reported in a
Fig. 2. Results from tensile tests. (a) Engineering stressengineering strain curves (with the numbers showing ductility loss, el
loss
, due to G-charging). The low- and high-magnication
SEM images shows the fracture surfaces of (b) uncharged and (c) G-charged HEA.
56 Y. Zhao et al. / Scripta Materialia 135 (2017) 5458
recent study [21], is ~45.0 wppm, i.e., less than that in the G-charged
specimen of the present study. Then, the homogeneity of H concentra-
tions in both cases comes into focus. In the G-charged sample, it is rea-
sonable to expect a homogeneous distribution through the thickness of
the sample since the time (72 h) - temperature (300 °C) combination of
chargingis sufcient for H diffusion throughout the specimen [37,43].In
contrast, E-charging was carried out at room temperature (RT), where
the hydrogen diffusivity is much lower, and for a shorter duration
(24 h). Note that the temperature dependence of hydrogen diffusivity
is signicant for fcc metals due to the large activation barrier energy
for diffusion. Therefore, a steep gradient in the H concentration in the
E-charged sample is possible. It, as a function of the distance from the
surface, x, can be estimated by [43]:
Cx;tc
ðÞ¼C01erf x
2ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
DHtc
p

;ð1Þ
where t
c
is the charging time, and D
H
is H diffusivity in HEA. Given the
similarity in the composition and the crystal structure, D
H
is assumed
to be the same as that of 300-series SS (~ 3.17 × 10
16
m
2
/s at RT
[31]). The concentration proles of H in the samples, estimated using
Eq. (1), are shown in Fig. 4c for both G- and E-charged samples. We
see from it that H is mostly concentrated near the surface in the latter
(see [21,44] for details). At the surface, Cis as high as ~ 1143 wppm,
which can conceivably trigger HELP. Since nanoindentation probes the
surface properties, a marked increase hardness values of the E-charged
HEA specimen was observed [21,25,45].
In summary, the inuence of gaseous and electrochemical H charg-
ing on the mechanical behavior of the CoCrFeMnNi HEA was investigat-
ed through tensile and nanoindentation experiments. The results show
that G-charged HEA, in spite of its strong ability to absorb H, is resistant
to embrittlement whereas marked ductility losses were noted for 304
and 316L SSs subjected to identical charging conditions. Through nano-
indentation experiments on both G- and E-charged specimens, we rea-
son that the former fails to embrittle HEA because the H content upon
charging is below the threshold required for triggering the H-enhanced
localized plasticity mechanism.
The work at Hanyang University was supported by the National
Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants funded by the Ministry of
Science, ICT & Future Planning (MSIP) (No. 2014M2A8A1030385 and
No. 2015R1A5A1037627). The work at KIST was supported by the
Convergence Agenda Program (CAP) of the Korea Research Council of
Fundamental Science and Technology. The authors wish to thank
Mr. Han-Jin Kim (KIST) and Mr. Chang-Geun Lee (KIMS) for their
valuable supports with experiments.
Fig. 3. H desorption curves obtainedfrom TDS measurements of CoCrFeMnNi HEA,304 SS,
and 316L SS samples that were G-charged under the exactly same condition.
Fig. 4. G-charging vs. E-charging of CoCrFeMnNi HEA. (a) Representative load-
displacement curves of uncharged, G-charged, and E-charged specimens by
nanoindentation tests with Berkovich a nd cube-corner indenters. (b) Representative
SEM images of cube-corner indentation impressions with AFM proles showing the slip
steps for uncharged and E-charged specimens. (c) Estimated H content distributions
along specimen thickness of G- and E-charged HEAs with the inset showing an enlarged
view of the curves within 30 μm near surface.
Table 2
Hardness values of uncharged, G-charged, and E-charged CoCrFeMnNi HEAs estimated
from nanoindentation tests with Berkovich and cube-corner indenters.
Condition of HEA Nanoindentation hardness (GPa)
Berkovich Cube-corner
Uncharged 2.69 ± 0.06 2.55 ± 0.10
G-charged 2.74 ± 0.09 2.54 ± 0.07
E-charged 4.39 ± 0.20 3.49 ± 0.06
57Y. Zhao et al. / Scripta Materialia 135 (2017) 5458
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58 Y. Zhao et al. / Scripta Materialia 135 (2017) 5458
... The research performed on H/MEAs in this context suggests that H affecting their properties, including embrittling them, is low [20][21][22][23]. In particular, the hydrogen-related performance of HEAs with the face-centered cubic (FCC) structures may possibly surpass those of the conventional FCC alloys such as the austenitic stainless steels [24][25][26]. In consequence, the influence of hydrogen on the mechanical properties of not only conventional HEAs but also AM HEAs have been widely investigated [15,[27][28][29]. ...
... This makes the dislocation-tangled walls unfavorable residing sites for hydrogen, which is a distinct feature from that of the typical dislocations observed in conventional alloys [76,77]. In addition, one can also imagine that the lattice in HEA may play a more active role in trapping of diffusible hydrogen than that in conventional alloys (that have only one or two principal elements) due to the well-known lattice distortion in HEAs [24,26,40]. ...
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... Multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) have emerged as a class of structural materials that offer a wide range of exceptional mechanical properties through the exploitation of all the available alloy design principles [1][2][3][4][5]. Of particular interest is the excellent damage tolerance that are commonly observed in face-centered cubic (FCC) MPEAs, such as the equiatomic CoCrFeNiMn (widely referred to as the 'Cantor alloy') [6,7], at both room and cryogenic temperatures. ...
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The effects of hydrogen on the mechanical properties of CrNiCo and CrFeNiCo medium‐entropy alloys (MEAs) and CrFeMnNiCo high‐entropy alloys (HEAs) are investigated. Although their total elongation is less than that of the commonly used stainless steel (SS) 316L (SS316L), the tensile strengths of HEAs and MEAs are 150–350 MPa higher than that of SS316L. Hydrogen charging up to 1400 appm (nominal concentration) does not affect the tensile strength of SS316L; however, it decreases the elongation by less than 20%. In contrast, hydrogen increases the tensile strength of MEAs and HEA, but has little effect on elongation. Among the MEAs and HEAs, CrNiCo exhibits the highest tensile strength and total elongation. No brittle fracture due to hydrogen is observed on the fracture surfaces of the H‐charged samples. However, nanotwin structures are more common in H‐charged MEAs and HEAs than in H‐uncharged MEAs and HEA. Additionally, the calculation results based on the first‐principles reveal for the first time that single vacancies or tiny vacancy clusters do not trap H in MEAs compared to HEAs, such that cracks due to H are unlikely to occur. Thus, the hydrogen embrittlement resistance of MEAs may be improved.
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L12-precipitate-strengthened multi-component alloys (MCAs) possess exceptional combination of strength and ductility. However, the high production costs of L12-containing MCAs impede their industrial application. This study introduces a novel approach for designing cost-effective L12-containing MCAs by microalloying Al and Ti with a base composition of Fe50Ni30Cr20 (at. %). Three types of MCAs were investigated in this study: Fe50.13Ni28.84Cr18.56Al1.39Ti1.08 (1Ti alloy), Fe46.53Ni27.32Cr19.91Al3.44Ti2.80 (3Ti alloy), and Fe48.51Ni25.93Cr15.75Al5.10Ti4.71 (5Ti alloy) (at. %). An increase in the (Al, Ti) content from 1 to 3 at. % accelerates the formation of L12 particles, whereas an increase in the (Al, Ti) content from 3 to 5 at. % leads to the activation of the brittle B2 and D024 phases. The rapid co-precipitation of the L12, B2, and D024 phases in the 5Ti alloys substantially hinders recrystallization during annealing, whereas the 3Ti alloys exhibit the highest rate of recrystallization upon annealing at 600 and 700 °C, mainly due to the reduction in the stacking fault energy of the matrix. The 5Ti alloys exhibit the highest hardness and the lowest plasticity owing to the presence of brittle B2 and D024 precipitates. By contrast, the 3Ti alloy annealed at 600 °C, in which dense and relatively fine L12 particles precipitated, exhibits a superior combination of hardness and plasticity. This study provides insights into the composition and annealing condition-dependent precipitation, recrystallization, and mechanical properties of ferrous MCAs.
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Hydrogen is considered a clean and efficient energy carrier crucial for shaping the net-zero future. Large-scale production, transportation, storage, and use of green hydrogen are expected to be undertaken in the coming decades. As the smallest element in the universe, however, hydrogen can adsorb on, diffuse into, and interact with many metallic materials, degrading their mechanical properties. This multifaceted phenomenon is generically categorized as hydrogen embrittlement (HE). HE is one of the most complex material problems that arises as an outcome of the intricate interplay across specific spatial and temporal scales between the mechanical driving force and the material resistance fingerprinted by the microstructures and subsequently weakened by the presence of hydrogen. Based on recent developments in the field as well as our collective understanding, this Review is devoted to treating HE as a whole and providing a constructive and systematic discussion on hydrogen entry, diffusion, trapping, hydrogen–microstructure interaction mechanisms, and consequences of HE in steels, nickel alloys, and aluminum alloys used for energy transport and storage. HE in emerging material systems, such as high entropy alloys and additively manufactured materials, is also discussed. Priority has been particularly given to these less understood aspects. Combining perspectives of materials chemistry, materials science, mechanics, and artificial intelligence, this Review aspires to present a comprehensive and impartial viewpoint on the existing knowledge and conclude with our forecasts of various paths forward meant to fuel the exploration of future research regarding hydrogen-induced material challenges.
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The influence of electrochemically charged hydrogen (H) on the hardness (HN) of a CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) was investigated with nanoindentation. Upon charging, HN of HEA increases by ∼60%, which decreases gradually during subsequent aging at room temperature, and on prolonged aging, the alloy softens to an extent that HN falls below that of the uncharged HEA. These H-induced mechanical property variations are rationalized in terms of the competition between solid solution hardening caused by H and excess vacancy creation due to deeply trapped H.
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Metal hydrides (MHx) provide a promising solution for the requirement to store large amounts of hydrogen in a future hydrogen-based energy system. This requires the design of alloys which allow for a very high H/M ratio. Transition metal hydrides typically have a maximum H/M ratio of 2 and higher ratios can only be obtained in alloys based on rare-earth elements. In this study we demonstrate, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, that a high entropy alloy of TiVZrNbHf can absorb much higher amounts of hydrogen than its constituents and reach an H/M ratio of 2.5. We propose that the large hydrogen-storage capacity is due to the lattice strain in the alloy that makes it favourable to absorb hydrogen in both tetrahedral and octahedral interstitial sites. This observation suggests that high entropy alloys have future potential for use as hydrogen storage materials.
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High entropy alloys (HEAs) are barely 12 years old. The field has stimulated new ideas and has inspired the exploration of the vast composition space offered by multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs). Here we present a critical review of this field, with the intent of summarizing key findings, uncovering major trends and providing guidance for future efforts. Major themes in this assessment include definition of terms; thermodynamic analysis of complex, concentrated alloys (CCAs); taxonomy of current alloy families; microstructures; mechanical properties; potential applications; and future efforts. Based on detailed analyses, the following major results emerge. Although classical thermodynamic concepts are unchanged, trends in MPEAs can be different than in simpler alloys. Common thermodynamic perceptions can be misleading and new trends are described. From a strong focus on 3d transition metal alloys, there are now seven distinct CCA families. A new theme of designing alloy families by selecting elements to achieve a specific, intended purpose is starting to emerge. A comprehensive microstructural assessment is performed using three datasets: experimental data drawn from 408 different alloys and two computational datasets generated using the CALculated PHAse Diagram (CALPHAD) method. Each dataset emphasizes different elements and shows different microstructural trends. Trends in these three datasets are all predicted by a ‘structure in – structure out’ (SISO) analysis developed here that uses the weighted fractions of the constituent element crystal structures in each dataset. A total of 13 distinct multi-principal element single-phase fields are found in this microstructural assessment. Relationships between composition, microstructure and properties are established for 3d transition metal MPEAs, including the roles of Al, Cr and Cu. Critical evaluation shows that commercial austenitic stainless steels and nickel alloys with 3 or more principal elements are MPEAs, as well as some established functional materials. Mechanical properties of 3d transition metal CCAs are equivalent to commercial austenitic stainless steels and nickel alloys, while some refractory metal CCAs show potential to extend the service strength and/or temperature of nickel superalloys. Detailed analyses of microstructures and properties allow two major HEA hypotheses to be resolved. Although the ‘entropy effect’ is not supported by the present data, it has nevertheless made an enduring contribution by inspiring a clearer understanding of the importance of configurational entropy on phase stability. The ‘sluggish diffusion’ hypothesis is also not supported by available data, but it motivates re-evaluation of a classical concept of metallic diffusion. Building on recent published work, the CCA field has expanded to include materials with metallic, ionic or covalent bonding. It also includes microstructures with any number of phases and any type of phases. Finally, the MPEA field is shown to include both structural and functional materials applications. A significant number of future efforts are recommended, with an emphasis on developing high-throughput experiments and computations for structural materials. The review concludes with a brief description of major accomplishments of the field and insights gained from the first 12 years of research. The field has lost none of its potency and continues to pose new questions and offer new possibilities. The vast range of complex compositions and microstructures remains the most compelling motivation for future studies.
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At low homologous temperatures (down to cryogenic temperatures), the CrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloy possesses good combination of strength, work hardening rate (WHR), ductility, and fracture toughness. To improve understanding of the deformation mechanisms responsible for its mechanical properties, tensile tests were performed at liquid nitrogen and room temperature (77 K and 293 K) and interrupted at different strains to quantify the evolution of microstructure by transmission electron microscopy. Dislocation densities, and twin widths, their spacings, and volume fractions were determined. Nanotwins were first observed after true strains of ∼7.4% at 77 K and ∼25% at 293 K; at lower strains, deformation occurs by dislocation plasticity. The tensile stress at which twinning occurs is 720 ± 30 MPa, roughly independent of temperature, from which we deduce a critical resolved shear stress for twinning of 235 ± 10 MPa. In the regime where deformation occurs by dislocation plasticity, the shear modulus normalized WHR decreases with increasing strain at both 77 K and 293 K. Beyond ∼7.4% true strain, the WHR at 77 K remains constant at a high value of G/30 because twinning is activated, which progressively introduces new interfaces in the microstructure. In contrast, the WHR at room temperature continues to decrease with increasing strain because twinning is not activated until much later (close to fracture). Thus, the enhanced strength-ductility combination at 77 K compared to 293 K is primarily due to twinning starting earlier in the deformation process and providing additional work hardening. Consistent with this, when tensile specimens were pre-strained at 77 K to introduce nanotwins, and subsequently tested at 293 K, flow stress and ductility both increased compared to specimens that were not pre-strained.
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This contribution concentrates on the possibilities of additive manufacturing of high-entropy clad layers by laser processing. In particular, the effects of the laser surface processing parameters on the microstructure and hardness of high-entropy alloys (HEAs) were examined. AlCoCrFeNi alloys with different amounts of aluminum prepared by arc melting were investigated and compared with the laser beam remelted HEAs with the same composition. Attempts to form HEAs coatings with a direct laser deposition from the mixture of elemental powders were made for AlCoCrFeNi and AlCrFeNiTa composition. A strong influence of solidification rate on the amounts of face-centered cubic and body-centered cubic phase, their chemical composition, and spatial distribution was detected for two-phase AlCoCrFeNi HEAs. It is concluded that a high-power laser is a versatile tool to synthesize interesting HEAs with additive manufacturing processing. Critical issues are related to the rate of (re)solidification, the dilution with the substrate, powder efficiency during cladding, and differences in melting points of clad powders making additive manufacturing processing from a simple mixture of elemental powders a challenging approach.
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This paper concentrates on the crystallographic-orientation relationship between the various phases in the Al-Co-Cr-Fe-Ni high-entropy alloys. Two types of orientation relationships of bcc phases (some with ordered B2 structures) and fcc matrix were observed in Al0.5CoCrFeNi and Al0.7CoCrFeNi alloys at room temperature: (1 -1 0)bcc//(200)fcc, [001]bcc//[001]fcc, (b) (1 -1 1)B2//(2-2 0)fcc, [011]B2//[11√2]fcc.
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Time-dependent plastic deformation behavior of nanocrystalline (nc) and coarse-grained (cg) CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloys (HEAs) was systematically explored through a series of spherical nanoindentation creep experiments. High-pressure torsion (HPT) processing was performed for achieving nc microstructure in the HEA, leading to a reduction in grain size from ∼46 μm for the as-cast state to ∼ 33 nm at the edge of the HPT disk after 2 turns. Indentation creep tests revealed that creep deformation indeed occurs in both cg and nc HEAs even at room temperature and it is more pronounced with an increase in strain. The creep stress exponent, n, was estimated as ∼3 for cg HEA and ∼1 for nc HEA and the predominant creep mechanisms were investigated in terms of the values of n and the activation volumes. Through theoretical calculations and comparison of the creep strain rates for nc HEA and a conventional face-centered-cubic nc metal (Ni), the influence of sluggish diffusion on the creep resistance of nc HEA was analyzed. In addition, sharp indentation creep tests were performed for comparison purposes and the results confirmed that the use of a spherical indenter is clearly more appropriate for investigating the creep behavior of this HEA.
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Contents: The diffusion equations; methods of solution when the diffusion coefficient is constant; Infinite and semi-infinite media; Diffusion in a plane sheet; Diffusion in a cylinder; Diffusion in a sphere; Concentration-dependent diffusion-methods of solution; numerical methods; Some calculated results for variable diffusion coefficients; The definition and measurement of diffusion coefficients; Non-Fickian diffusion; Diffusion in heterogeneous media; Moving boundaries; Diffusion and chemical reaction; Simultaneous diffusion of heat and moisture.