Journal of Alloys and Compounds 893 (2022) 162242

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Journal of Alloys and Compounds

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jalcom

Enhancing the strength of AlCrFeNi HEAs via tailoring aluminum content

and optimal aging treatment ]]
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⁎ ⁎
Mingze Wang a, Zhiqin Wen a, , Bo Ma a, Junxiao Liu a, Zhengguang Zou a, Yuhong Zhao b,
a
Key Laboratory of New Processing Technology for Nonferrous Metals and Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Guilin
University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
b
School of Materials Science and Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China

a r t i cl e i nfo a bstr ac t

Article history: In this work, AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) high-entropy alloys (HEAs) were designed by introducing a high
Received 15 July 2021 atomic radius element Al. And for x = 1.0 quaternary HEAs with equal molar ratios were studied at various
Received in revised form 28 September 2021 aging temperatures. The microstructural evolution and its effect on mechanical properties were discussed.
Accepted 2 October 2021
The results suggested that the addition of Al promoted the transition from face centered cubic (FCC) to body
Available online 5 October 2021
centered cubic (BCC) phase, in which the spherical Al-rich and Ni-rich BCC nanoparticles were dispersed in
BCC. Addition of Al optimized the brittle ternary CrFeNi HEA’s shortcomings, which have high plasticity and
Keywords:
high-entropy alloys poor strength. Besides, the results showed that the transformation of BCC to B2 phase was promoted via
aluminum content increasing aging temperatures. The B2 phase in the mesh structure and short rod structure was Al-rich and
heat treatment Ni-rich. When Al content increased to 0.5 and 1.0, the compressive yield strength increased to 1338.07 MPa
microstructure and 1079.03 MPa, respectively. While the elongation remained at 15~20%. The Vickers hardness enhanced
mechanical properties from 147.31 HV (x = 0) to 247.76 HV (x = 1.0). When the aging temperature reached 600 °C, the compressive
ultimate strength and Vickers hardness increased by 165.84 MPa and 218.04 HV compared with as-cast
HEAs, respectively. The series of HEAs were evaluated for the correlation between microstructure and
mechanical properties.
© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction strengthening mechanism with variation of matrix structure com­

pared with quinary HEAs. Al is well known for the high atomic ra­
High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have attracted much attention due to dius that could induce lattice distortion of CoCrNi HEAs. Therefore,
their special microstructure and mechanical properties [1–3]. The the addition of Al is an effective way to develop CoCrNi HEAs. It
crystal structure of HEAs tends to form simple solid solutions (FCC, reported [7] quaternary AlxCrTiMo (x = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1) HEAs ex­
BCC) rather than complex intermetallic compounds because of their isted single BCC structure as equiaxed crystal. Moreover, the grain
high mixing entropy [4,5]. The distinct crystal structure for HEAs sizes increased with the addition of Al content. Although the hard­
might play a significant role in balance excellent microstructure and ness of x = 0.25 was 692 HV, adjusting the Al content to 1.0 could
best properties, especially strength. However, expensive high purity raise its hardness to 730HV. Zuo et al. [8] investigated that the yield
metals must be used as raw materials to obtain excellent properties strength increased from 158.4 MPa to 967.4 MPa caused the increase
of HEAs, which results in high manufacturing costs and severe re­ of Al molar ratio from 0.25 to 1 of AlxCoFeNi HEAs, which crystal
strictions in engineering applications. Therefore, to promote the phase transitioned from a single FCC phase to double-phases FCC
practical use of HEAs, reducing cost is necessary, which requires the and BCC structure. The results [9] indicated that FeCoNi HEAs with a
development of a new material that tailors element composition and low content of Al had a single-phase FCC structure. The yield
aging temperatures. strength increased linearly with the increase of Al content. The
Recently, Zhao et al. [6] indicated that improved the mechanical Room-temperature compressive yield strength of FeCoNiAlx (x = 5)
properties of CoCrNi HEAs through addition Al, which had the same HEAs was 97.8 MPa, the FeCoNiAlx (x = 9) HEAs was 147.9 MPa.
Hence, current studies [10–12] illustrated that the addition of Al can
enhance mechanical properties of quaternary HEAs by adjusting
⁎
Corresponding authors. their structure. In quaternary HEAs containing Co, the yield strength
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (Z. Wen), of quaternary AlCoCrNi HEAs [13] is more than 3000 MPa, and the
[email protected] (Y. Zhao).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2021.162242
0925-8388/© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
M. Wang, Z. Wen, B. Ma et al. Journal of Alloys and Compounds 893 (2022) 162242

Fig. 1. (a) X-ray diffraction pattern from AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs in as-cast condition; (b) X-ray diffraction pattern from AlCrFeNi HEAs after various aging temperatures.

compressive ultimate strength exceeds 1900 MPa. Ductility is more AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs. And the structure evolution and
than 15%. The reason for selecting Al is that Al can also act as a BCC mechanical properties of AlCrFeNi quaternary HEAs with equal
stable element that can introduce the BCC phase and enhance the molar ratios were studied at various aging temperatures.
strength of HEAs by tailoring the phase constituents [14–16].
Another method to improve HEAs’ mechanical properties is 2. Experimental procedures
through heat treatment to achieve solution aging [17,18], which can
relieve the segregation of components in as-cast HEAs and eliminate AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs were synthesized by arc-melting
the crystal’s blemish to a certain extent. The transfiguration effect of in a water-cooled copper crucible and high-purity argon protective
heat treatment on the microstructure and form new reinforcement atmosphere at least five times to enhance the chemical homo­
phase was profound. Wang et al. [19] found that solution aging geneity. The purity of raw material is higher than 99.95%, which is Al,
hardening of Al0.6CoCrFeNi0.4 HEAs occurred about 650 °C. Because Cr, Fe, and Ni pellets. Simultaneously, equal atomic ratio AlCrFeNi
of disordered BCC phase growth and precipitation of strength B2 HEAs were heat-treated at 400–800 °C for five hours. For con­
phase. With the increase of temperature, the spherical B2 phase can venience, the specimens of as-cast AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs
be clearly observed. When the temperature increases by 850 °C, all were corresponded to abbreviating Al0, Al0.5, Al1.0, respectively.
the BCC phase of matrix was replaced by the B2 phase. After heat And heat-treated AlCrFeNi HEAs at 400 °C, 600 °C, 800 °C were
treatment, the hardness and yield strength of Al0.6CoCrFeNi0.4 HEAs mentioned to Al-400, Al-600, Al-800, respectively. The crystal
were increased by 150 HV and 700 MPa compared with as-cast structure was authenticated using X-ray diffraction (XRD, Xpert Pro)
HEAs, respectively. Lu et al. [20] introduced as-cast and aging tem­ with a Cu Kα radiation work on 40 kV and 40 mA. Scanning was
perature at 600 °C AlCoCrFeNi2.1 HEAs, which yield strength of performed in the 2θ range of 20–80˚ and 20–90˚ at a step size of 5˚/
944 MPa and 806 MPa, tensile elongations of 27% and 34%, respec­ min for as-cast specimens and heat-treated specimens, respectively.
tively. Xu et al. [21] studied heat treatment of FeCoNiAl0.5 HEAs at The microstructure and chemical composition were characterized
400 °C, 600 °C and 800 °C, which discovered that AlNi-based rod-like using optical microscope (OM, DMi8A) and scanning electron mi­
precipitates formed after 400 °C, which improved its hardness. croscope (SEM, Hitachi S-4800) at 10–15 kV, which provided an
Under 600 °C heat treatment, abundant precipitates increased. energy dispersive spectroscopy detector (EDS). After mechanically
Moreover, there were spherical precipitates with nanometer size, polishing, OM and SEM specimens were etched with aqua regia for
and the hardness reached the highest. When the aging temperature 8–10 s. The compression properties were tested on a Instron3382
reached 800 °C, the nano precipitates dissolved, and the hardness universal electronic testing machine with a strain rate of 0.5 mm/
decreased. Likewise, in AlCrFeNiMo (doping Ti, Ta) HEAs [22], the min at room temperature. Five standard compression specimens of
yield strength at 973 K also increases from 210 to 230 (Fe–Cr each component, based on the limitation ratio of height and dia­
–Ni–Al–Mo alloy) and from 266 to 293 (Fe–Cr–Ni–Al–Mo–2Ti alloy), meter [27], were made as Ф5 × 10 mm rods by wire electrical dis­
respectively. A striking property of heat treatment [23–25] is that charge machining (WEDM, DK7732). Measurement of specimens’
enhancing mechanical properties of HEAs through formulating new hardness with the load of 1000 g and duration of 15 s was adopted to
phase (eg. B2) can also increase the plasticity of HEAs. measure room temperature hardness.
However, the existence of expensive metal cobalt in most of
quinary HEAs limits its development, and the control medium aging 3. Results and discussion
temperatures in quaternary HEAs is relatively limited. Therefore, to
improve industrial application of HEAs, this paper introduces a kind 3.1. Microstructure and phases analysis
of cobalt-free quaternary HEAs, and optimizes quaternary HEAs with
better mechanical properties under different Al content and aging 3.1.1. XRD analysis
temperatures. It also shows excellent mechanical properties in XRD patterns of AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs in as-cast and
quaternary HEAs. In addition, in already reported quaternary Co free various heat treatment temperatures are revealed in Fig. 1(a) and (b),
AlCrFeNi HEAs [26], which compressive ultimate strength is respectively. The results indicate that as-cast AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5,
1389 MPa and Ductility reaches18%. 1.0) HEAs has a single FCC phase when x is less than 0.5. The result is
In this work, Al was chosen as quaternary HEAs element to study consistent with Wen et al. [28]. After that, a new BCC phase forms
its effect on phase constituents and mechanical properties of with the addition of Al. Low-Al HEAs (Al0.5) only form FCC

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M. Wang, Z. Wen, B. Ma et al. Journal of Alloys and Compounds 893 (2022) 162242

Fig. 2. Optical micrographs of AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs; (a) Al0, (c) Al0.5, and (e) Al1.0, (b) Al-400, (d) Al-600, and (f) Al-800.

diffraction peak in one region. Afterward, the relative intensity of the 3.1.2. As-cast HEA’s microstructure and phases distributions
BCC (2θ = 74.13˚) diffraction peak shows up in high Al HEAs (Al1.0), Fig. 2(a, c, e) present microstructure of as-cast AlxCrFeNi (x = 0,
and then FCC reflection peak of high angle disappear in the Al0.5. For 0.5, 1.0) HEAs examined by OM. It shows that with the increasing
Al0.5, BCC diffraction peak is identified, which is similar to AlCoCr­ addition of Al, the structure for as-cast AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs
FeNi HEAs [29,30]. The FCC peak firstly appears to the high 2θ angle evolve from complex speckle morphology into columnar grains, fi­
in Al0, yet vanishes the high 2θ angle as Al0.5. By analyzing XRD nally to thick columnar dendrites. Combined with XRD results, it can
diffraction peak in Fig. 1(b), the consequences imply that a new be inferred that the bright region corresponds to FCC phase, and the
phase is conducive to the heat-treated specimens. Apart from the dark region is the BCC phase. In order to study the morphology and
diffraction peak of BCC structure, we can find that the diffraction exist form of these elements in as-cast AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0)
peaks for (100) (220) (111) and (211), which emerge B2 (NiAl) phase HEAs, the analysis of as-cast AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs are ob­
clearly display in the 2θ angle of 30.87˚, 44.39˚ 54.98˚ and 81.59˚. The tained by SEM and EDS, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively.
conclusion is similar to Hao et al. [31]. The diffraction peak of Fig. 3(a, b) elaborate the microstructure of Al0 is uneven lamellar
Fig. 1(b) is divided into two phases, which include the simple solid (LA), and uniform distribution of elements by Fig. 4(a). Al0.5 and
solution phase with BCC lattice (FeCr) phase and the enhanced in­ Al1.0 exhibit dendrite (DR) and interdendritic (ID) structure micro­
termediate phase with B2 (NiAl) phase, and the diffraction peak of structure in Fig. 3(d, f). Al0.5 show the microstructure of DR is coarse
B2 phase reaches the highest at (211). It can be observed from columnar crystals, and the mean size of it is about 1 µm. However, in
Fig. 1(b) that the most diffraction peaks of the B2 phase appears Al1.0, the morphology of DR transforms from coarse grains to rela­
when the aging temperature reaches 800 °C, which is worth noting tively lamellar. In the upper right corner of Fig. 3(f), there is an en­
that the BCC and B2 diffraction peaks at (110) (211) have dis­ larged view of ID. It can be clearly seen that there are spherical
appeared. It may draw that increasing ageing temperatures are likely nanoparticles with a mean size of about 1 µm. Furthermore, with Al
conducive to promoting the order B2 phase and depleting the energy content increasing, the ID’s region becomes large, which is con­
of the disordered BCC phase. SEM and EDS will further elaborate on sistent with the XRD analysis results. To further disclose the dis­
phase transition and morphology. tribution of the elements in the two phases, EDS of as-cast AlxCrFeNi

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M. Wang, Z. Wen, B. Ma et al. Journal of Alloys and Compounds 893 (2022) 162242

Fig. 3. SEM micrographs of as-cast AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs; (a) Al0, (c) Al0.5, and (e) Al1.0, and every enlarged view of as-cast HEAs morphology in (b), (d) and (f) for Al0, 0.5
and Al1.0 respectively.

(x = 0.5, 1.0) HEAs are depicted in Fig. 4. Namely, Al and Ni elements and Ni atoms in the HEA's system will also have coupling induction
are primarily distributed in ID’s region, Fe and Cr elements are pri­ to promote the formation of (AlNi) BCC reinforcing phase. The si­
marily enriched in DR’s region. The mixing enthalpy of different tuations are also consistent with the unique mixing enthalpy effect
element pairs can be seen in Table 1, the lower mixing enthalpy of Al and cocktail effect of HEAs [33]. All the rationales provide important
and Ni atoms indicates that the stronger attractive force exists be­ conditions for improving the mechanical properties of AlxCrFeNi
tween these two atoms [32]. Therefore, it is inferred that the sphe­ (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs.
rical nanoparticles are BCC phase. During the solidification of FCC
phase, Al and Ni atoms with lower melting points will be repelled to 3.1.3. Microstructure and phase transition of heat-treated specimens
the front of the solidification interface, facilitating the formation of OM images illustrating the macro-structure of the AlCrFeNi HEAs
the AlNi phase [29,30]. The different region’s compositions of these (Al-400, Al-600, Al-800) after heat treatment are given in Fig. 2(b, d,
HEAs are listed in Table 2, which is worth noting that with the in­ f). The size of dendrite morphology for the growth of heat-treat
crease of Al content, the content of Al and Ni in the ID increases specimens is significant in Fig. 2(b, d, f), compared with as-cast
significantly. Based on the above analysis, Al and Ni atoms tend to AlCrFeNi HEAs in Fig. 2(e). The phenomenon due to solving the
dissolve into the BCC phase. On the contrary, Cr and Fe tend to have segregation of elements in HEAs after heat treatment, which form
DR. With the addition of Al element (x = 0.5, x = 1.0), the fraction of by-products. Its morphology appears extremely disordered, when
BCC phase increases, and less FCC phase forms, which is consistent the aging temperature reaches 800 °C. Due to the different solidifi­
with the results of XRD and morphology analysis. Combined with cation sequences [34], the SEM images in Fig. 5(b, d, f) show that
EDS analysis, the BCC phase's spherical nanoparticle structure (Al1.0) heat-treated specimens are composed of black region (BR) and gray
in ID's region can further infer the enhancement of Al content can region (GR). An excessive microstructure evolves after heat treat­
further promote the formation of (AINi) BCC reinforcing phase. Si­ ment, which morphology of AlCrFeNi HEAs has evolved from thick
multaneously, increasing the largest radius atom’s content (Al) in columnar dendrites in as-cast to order mesh, finally to disordered
AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs to hinder the movement of atoms in short rod structure. When the aging temperature reaches 800 °C, the
AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs. Most of the space in the HEAs will be microstructure into disordered short rod structure, which size is
occupied by large radius atoms (Al) and other atoms will exist in slit- between 1 µm and 3 µm. In order to further analyze the distribution
shaped pores, which will trigger low mixing enthalpy of Cr and Fe of structural elements in HEAs, the specimens (Al-400, Al-600, Al-
atoms to take the lead in forming Cr-Fe phase. Simultaneously, Al 800) are analyzed by EDS in Fig. 6. Combined with XRD and EDS

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M. Wang, Z. Wen, B. Ma et al. Journal of Alloys and Compounds 893 (2022) 162242

Fig. 4. The chemical element distribution of as-cast AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs mapped at different Al content: (a) Al0, (b) Al0.5 and (c) Al1.0.

Table 1 concentration between GR’s region and BR’s region is the largest,
Chemical mixing enthalpy of the atomic pairs.
which indicates that segregation into Al- enriched regions occur
Al Cr Fe Ni during the GR's solidification when the aging temperature reaches
Al – – – – 600 °C [13]. It demonstrates the core of GR is composed of Al-rich,
Cr -10 – – – which can deduce Ni-Al phase. The results are consistent with the
Fe -11 -1 – – XRD analysis and EDS. The enrichment of extensive B2 reinforcing
Ni -22 -7 -2 –
phase in GR’s region for Al-600 may trigger to the prominent of aged
sample’s mechanical properties. The hypothesis will be further
verified in the analysis of mechanical properties of the HEAs. It is
analysis, the B2 phase is aggregated in the GR, which rich Al and Ni. worth noting that the morphology image of the Al-800 is shown in
The formation of structural disorder is due to the supersaturation of Fig. 5(f). Each of short rods have a periodic, micron scaled, maze-
as-cast AlCrFeNi HEAs after heat treatment, which will make the shaped microstructure. The bigger difference is that many short rods
internal structure of the HEAs unstable and lead to spinodal de­ intersect form to an extremely disordered structure compared with
composition. Al-enriched, Ni-enriched will assemble in the GR. With other typical Eutectic HEAs (EHEAs). Many scholars [37,38] have
the increase of Al and Ni concentration, GR transforms and forms B2 been discussed spinodal decomposition for HEAs. Combined with
(NiAl) phase intermetallic compounds [35,36]. As shown in Fig. 6 the analysis of XRD in Fig. 1(b), more B2 phase diffraction peaks are
and Table 2, with the increase of aging temperature, Al and Ni as­ observed when the aging temperature reaches 800 °C. And uniform
semble in the GR obviously, nevertheless Cr and Fe uniform dis­ distribution of Fe and Cr can be observed in Fig. 6(c), which indicate
tribution. The Al content of the GR and BR is estimated as 25.32% and that there were both B2 (NiAl) phase and BCC (FeCr) phase in GR. The
15.05% for Al-600, respectively. The chemical composition of both results are similar to Chen [39]. Therefore, it can be inferred that
regions measured by EDS is depicted in Table 2. The difference of Al when the aging temperature reaches 800 °C, Al-800 forms EHEAs

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M. Wang, Z. Wen, B. Ma et al. Journal of Alloys and Compounds 893 (2022) 162242

Table 2 structure of short rods is easy to trigger unexpected large de­

The phase composition of as-cast AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs and at various aging formation compared with mesh’s structure in HEAs, which may re­
temperatures AlCrFeNi HEAs were identified by EDS.
sult poor stability for structure. With the enhancing of the distance
Alloy Phase constitution Element from the middle of the grain the layers become coarsened. Ahead of
Al Cr Fe Ni solid interface the sidewise diffusion reduces the solute expansion in
the liquid [26]. Therefore, the core skeleton structure of Al-800 will
Al0 LA – 33.35 34.58 30.24
Al0.5 DR 16.02 28.48 28.95 26.55 not have decent prop up function. Combined with above verdicts,
ID 19.36 23.04 25.10 32.50 the mechanical properties of Al-800 may be poor affected. The
Al1.0 DR 32.28 18.79 19.26 29.67 conclusion is further verified in HEA’s mechanical properties.
ID 28.44 21.98 22.85 26.73
Al-400 BR 25.48 3.64 11.44 59.45
GR 24.32 3.48 11.61 60.59 3.2. Compression and hardness results
Al-600 BR 15.05 12.53 15.42 57.00
GR 25.32 4.28 12.90 57.50
Al-800 BR 20.27 18.54 21.89 39.30 The hardness of HEAs will change dramatically by adjusting the
GR 28.89 5.92 12.57 52.62 content of any constituent element, which is caused by the cocktail
effect of HEAs [33,40]. Vickers microhardness (HV) are measured on
the plane parallel by applying a load of 1000 g for 15 s. The hardness
due to excessive strip decomposition. Combined with the results of values of six specimens are shown in Fig. 7. The hardness of the Al0
EDS, the Al contents in GR’s region and BR’s region are 28.89% and HEAs is 147.31HV. An increase occurs in the hardness value when x is
20.27% for Al-800, respectively. Although there is some Al aggrega­ varied from 0 to 1.0. At x = 1.0, the hardness value reaches a max­
tion in GR’s region, the concentration difference of Al content in the imum of 247.76 HV. After heat treatment, the hardness of specimens
two regions of Al-800 has decreased compared with Al-600, which increases and reaches a maximum of 465.80 HV when the aging
may lead to the reduction of B2 reinforcing phase in the GR’s region temperature is 600 °C. All specimen’s hardness data are demon­
(NiAl) [22]. In addition, Al-800 has larger grains than Al-600. The strated in Table 3. Engineering compressive stress-strain curves for

Fig. 5. SEM micrographs of AlCrFeNi HEAs; (a) Al-400, (c) Al-600, and (e) Al-800, every enlarged view of the HEAs morphology in (b), (d) and (f) for Al-400, Al-600 and Al-800
respectively.

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M. Wang, Z. Wen, B. Ma et al. Journal of Alloys and Compounds 893 (2022) 162242

Fig. 6. The chemical element distribution of AlCrFeNi HEAs mapped at various aging temperatures: (a) 400 ℃, (b) 600 ℃ and (c) 800 ℃.

Table 3
Microhardness (HV) for specimens.

specimen Al0 Al0.5 Al1.0 Al-400 Al-600 Al-800

Microhardness (HV) 147.31 228.94 247.76 233.02 465.80 423.25

retains excellent plasticity, which is a typical brittle alloy curve. It is

laborious to occur structural distortion due to the different atomic
radii of Al0 have little variations. It is also evident that the ultimate
strength is a positive correlation to Al content after adding Al.
Combined with SEM-EDS analysis in Fig. 3 and Table 2, ID region of
(AlNi) BCC rich reinforcing phase expands obviously with the in­
crease of Al content. As a result of increasing the largest radius atom
(Al) in AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs to hinder the movement of
atoms in AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs, which can trigger solid so­
lution [41,42] strengthening and pinning effect [43] to optimize
mechanical properties of alloys. Therefore, the mechanical proper­
Fig. 7. Vickers microhardness of as-cast AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs and after
ties will gradually increase with the increase of Al content. The ul­
heated-treat AlCrFeNi HEAs. timate strength of Al1.0 is 1817.01 MPa, yet the plasticity is 15.72%,
which exhibits the typical strength−ductility principle of mutual
as-cast AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs and different heat-treat exclusion for HEAs [44,45]. Obviously, the Al0.5 exhibits the superior
AlCrFeNi HEAs are presented in Fig. 8(a), (b) and (c), respectively. plastic deformation behavior among the two Al-HEAs, which is
And the results are tabulated in Table 4. Obviously, for Al0 in 19.68%. According to Fig. 8(c), which observes the compressive
Fig. 8(b), the ultimate compressive stress exceeds 2500 MPa and mechanical properties of AlCrFeNi HEAs after heat treatment. Its

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M. Wang, Z. Wen, B. Ma et al. Journal of Alloys and Compounds 893 (2022) 162242

Fig. 8. (a) Compression engineering stress-strain curves of three Al-added CrFeNi-based HEAs at ambient temperature; (b) Complete compression engineering stress–strain curve
of CrFeNi-based HEAs at ambient temperature; (c) Compression engineering stress-strain curves of AlCrFeNi HEA under compression at various aging temperatures.

Table 4 properties are deriving from the coarser disordered nanorod struc­
Mechanical properties of all the specimens. ture is prone to grain rotation and even slip due to the large grains
Specimen Compressive yield Ultimate compressive Strain (%) and similar shapes, which will intensively reduce the stabilization of
stress (MPa) stress (MPa) HEAs. The grain boundary becomes slight during the evolution from
Al0 126.05 – – mesh structure to rod structure, which can also explain the decrease
Al0.5 1464.12 1607.75 19.68 of plasticity. Thus, a combined effect of limited grain rotation and
Al1.0 1205.08 1817.01 15.72 optimum phase transition can boost mechanical properties. When
Al-400 1234.59 1925.52 18.06
the aging temperature is 400 °C, the spin solution can be partly
Al-600 1254.61 1982.85 18.24
Al-800 1020.49 1716.16 17.31 observed, yet the comprehensive mechanical properties not achieve
the optimal effect. Therefore, appropriate strip decomposition can
effectively improve the strength and plasticity of HEAs.

compression mechanical properties and ductility are optimized, 4. Conclusions

which is consistent with previous studies [46,47]. After aging tem­
perature at 600 °C, the BCC (FeCr) phase can be decomposed into The effects of as-cast AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs and different
0.1 µm~0.6 µm ordered mesh B2 (NiAl) phase. The ultimate strength aging temperature AlCrFeNi HEAs on structural evolution and me­
reaches 1982.85 MPa, which increases 165.84 MPa compared with chanical properties. The main conclusions are summarized below:
as-cast HEAs. Ductility increased from 15.72% as-cast to 18.24%.
However, when aging temperature reaches 800 °C, the BCC (FeCr) 1. The microstructure evolves from LA to thick columnar dendrites
phase has a strong driving force, which optimizes the B2 (NiAl) microstructure with the increase of Al content for as-cast
phase to over spin into larger nanorods. Although B2 phase content AlxCrFeNi (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0) HEAs. For Al0, which is single FCC with
further increases, excessive strip decomposition does not receive uniform distribution of elements. However, the internal structure
better mechanical properties. Combined with the SEM analysis in is composed of double-phases FCC + BCC for Al0.5 and Al1.0. The
Fig. 5, after aging treatment at 400 and 600 °C, the structures of Al- increment of ultimate compressive is owing to BCC phase
400 and Al-600 evolve into a more stable mesh structure, which can strengthening.
further optimize the mechanical properties of HEAs. The mesh 2. After heat treatment, specimens (Al-400, Al-600, Al-800) are
structure leads to more grain boundaries, which can also explain the composed of BCC (FeCr) solid solution matrix, B2 (NiAl) phase.
reason for its plastic enhancement. When the aging temperature The microstructure evolved from order mesh to disordered short
reaches 800 °C, as structural analysis, mediocre mechanical rod structure with the rise of aging temperature. The B2 (NiAl)

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M. Wang, Z. Wen, B. Ma et al. Journal of Alloys and Compounds 893 (2022) 162242

strengthening phase is consistently identified in GR, which Al, Ni- phase high-entropy alloy with high specific strength, J. Alloy. Compd. 777 (2019)
rich matrix. The interval of mesh (BR) forms the BCC (FeCr) phase, 828–834.
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