Effects of strain rate and low temperature on dynamic behaviors of additively manufactured CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloys

With the increasing demand for high-performance alloys in extreme environments, there has been an active development of new materials. High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are considered a promising choice due to their exceptional properties. Even though HEAs exhibit remarkable mechanical properties, only a limited number of studies have explored the mechanical properties and microstructures of additively manufactured HEAs under extreme conditions. In this work, the dynamic mechanical properties at high strain rates and different temperatures (i.e., 293 K and 77 K), as well as quasi-static mechanical properties for the CoCrFeMnNi HEAs fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) are investigated. Microstructure observations have demonstrated that the as-printed sample displays a single face-centered cubic (FCC) phase with a columnar dendrite feature. Within dendrites, a large number of dislocations and substructures appear due to the applied high cooling rates during the SLM process. The as-printed sample exhibits a significant strain rate dependence from quasi-static to dynamic loading during deformation. Compared to the quasi-static mechanical properties, the as-printed HEA reveals higher dynamic yield strength (e.g., ∼1081 MPa and ∼1020 MPa along the build and scanning directions under 2800 s⁻¹, respectively), more pronounced strain-hardening behavior, and larger remarkable plasticity under dynamic loading at cryogenic temperatures. When subjected to increasing strain rates ranging from 0.001 s⁻¹ to 3500 s⁻¹ at 293 K, the yield strength of the as-printed HEAs exhibits a notable enhancement, increasing from ∼517 MPa to ∼723 MPa along the BD direction, and from ∼545 MPa to ∼667 MPa along the SD direction. The corresponding variation in the strength of the BD samples is more pronounced than that of the SD samples. The enhancement in strength should be attributed to the differences in the features of grain orientation and dislocation distribution along different build directions, as well as the strain rate dependence. During plastic deformation, the dominant mechanisms of dislocation slips and deformation twins (DTs) are transformed into multi-stage-twin-controlled ones at cryogenic temperatures, which is beneficial to improve the strain hardening rate and plasticity. The present studies provide a deep understanding of the deformation mechanism of HEAs under extreme conditions and help promote the application of HEAs in the future.