A quinary WTaCrVHf nanocrystalline refractory high-entropy alloy withholding extreme irradiation environments

O El Atwani; H T Vo; M A Tunes; C Lee; A Alvarado; N Krienke; J D Poplawsky; A A Kohnert; J Gigax; W-Y Chen; M Li; Y Q Wang; J S Wróbel; D Nguyen-Manh; J K S Baldwin; O U Tukac; E Aydogan; S Fensin; E Martinez

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-38000-y

A quinary WTaCrVHf nanocrystalline refractory high-entropy alloy withholding extreme irradiation environments

Nat Commun. 2023 May 2;14(1):2516. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38000-y.

Authors

O El Atwani¹, H T Vo², M A Tunes², C Lee^{3

4}, A Alvarado^{5

6}, N Krienke⁷, J D Poplawsky⁸, A A Kohnert², J Gigax³, W-Y Chen⁹, M Li⁹, Y Q Wang², J S Wróbel¹⁰, D Nguyen-Manh^{11

12}, J K S Baldwin³, O U Tukac¹³, E Aydogan¹³, S Fensin³, E Martinez⁶

Affiliations

¹ Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA. osman@lanl.gov.
² Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA.
³ Center for Integrated Nanotechnology, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA.
⁴ Department of Materials and Mechanical Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.
⁵ Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA.
⁶ Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA.
⁷ Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
⁸ Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA.
⁹ Division of Nuclear Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemon, IL, USA.
¹⁰ Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, ul. Wołoska, 02-507, Warsaw, Poland.
¹¹ Culham Center for Fusion Energy, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Abingdon, OX14 3DB, UK.
¹² Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PH, UK.
¹³ Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.

Abstract

In the quest of new materials that can withstand severe irradiation and mechanical extremes for advanced applications (e.g. fission & fusion reactors, space applications, etc.), design, prediction and control of advanced materials beyond current material designs become paramount. Here, through a combined experimental and simulation methodology, we design a nanocrystalline refractory high entropy alloy (RHEA) system. Compositions assessed under extreme environments and in situ electron-microscopy reveal both high thermal stability and radiation resistance. We observe grain refinement under heavy ion irradiation and resistance to dual-beam irradiation and helium implantation in the form of low defect generation and evolution, as well as no detectable grain growth. The experimental and modeling results-showing a good agreement-can be applied to design and rapidly assess other alloys subjected to extreme environmental conditions.