Theory-guided design of high-entropy alloys with enhanced strength-ductility synergy

Zongrui Pei; Shiteng Zhao; Martin Detrois; Paul D Jablonski; Jeffrey A Hawk; David E Alman; Mark Asta; Andrew M Minor; Michael C Gao

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-38111-6

Theory-guided design of high-entropy alloys with enhanced strength-ductility synergy

Nat Commun. 2023 May 2;14(1):2519. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38111-6.

Authors

Zongrui Pei^#^{1

2}, Shiteng Zhao^#^{3

4

5

6}, Martin Detrois⁷, Paul D Jablonski⁷, Jeffrey A Hawk⁷, David E Alman⁷, Mark Asta^{3

8}, Andrew M Minor^{3

4}, Michael C Gao⁹

Affiliations

¹ National Energy Technology Laboratory, Albany, OR, 97321, USA. peizongrui@gmail.com.
² ORISE, 100 ORAU Way, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA. peizongrui@gmail.com.
³ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
⁴ National Center for Electron Microscopy, Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
⁵ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China.
⁶ Tianmushan Laboratory, Xixi Octagon City, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, 310023, China.
⁷ National Energy Technology Laboratory, Albany, OR, 97321, USA.
⁸ Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
⁹ National Energy Technology Laboratory, Albany, OR, 97321, USA. michael.gao@netl.doe.gov.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Metallic alloys have played essential roles in human civilization due to their balanced strength and ductility. Metastable phases and twins have been introduced to overcome the strength-ductility tradeoff in face-centered cubic (FCC) high-entropy alloys (HEAs). However, there is still a lack of quantifiable mechanisms to predict good combinations of the two mechanical properties. Here we propose a possible mechanism based on the parameter κ, the ratio of short-ranged interactions between closed-pack planes. It promotes the formation of various nanoscale stacking sequences and enhances the work-hardening ability of the alloys. Guided by the theory, we successfully designed HEAs with enhanced strength and ductility compared with other extensively studied CoCrNi-based systems. Our results not only offer a physical picture of the strengthening effects but can also be used as a practical design principle to enhance the strength-ductility synergy in HEAs.