Laser Additive Manufacturing of Laminated AlCrMnFeCoNi High Entropy Alloys

Abstract

One challenge hampering the structural applications of High-entropy alloys (HEAs) is to overcome the strength-ductility trade-off. Inspired by nature, engineering the HEAs with laminated structure composed of alternating soft and hard layers has the potential to strengthen the HEAs while maintaining the ductility. Here, taking the Al_xCrMnFeCoNi HEA as the model material, the laminated HEAs composed by soft and hard layers were successfully prepared by laser additive manufacturing (LAM). The soft and hard laminated layers were achieved through tailoring the Al content. In several combinations of hard and soft, the strength of Al₁₀–Al₁₂ was significantly higher than that of Al₁₂ HEA, indicating that an appropriate soft and hard matching can indeed further strengthen the HEA compared with the homogeneous HEA.

Fig. 1 (a) SEM of the gas-atomized CrMnFeCoNi and Al powders, (b) A schematic diagram of the LAM experiment, (c) Schematic diagram of high entropy alloy with double layer structure, (d) The outer appearance of a typical LAMed Al_xCrMnFeCoNi HEA.