Effect of Enhanced Gravity on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Al0.9CoCrFeNi High-Entropy Alloy

The influence of enhanced gravity on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the Al0.9CoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy, which was solidified under normal gravity (acceleration 1 g) and enhanced gravity (acceleration 140 g, acceleration 210 g, and acceleration 360 g) conditions is reported in this paper. Its solidification under enhanced gravity fields resulted in refinement of the columnar nondendritic grain structure and an increase in the area fraction of the body-centered cubic (BCC) structure phases. The mass transfer strengthened by enhanced gravity promoted element diffusion and enrichment, which caused changes in the composition and microstructure that, in turn, affected the mechanical properties of the alloy. The compressive strength and plasticity of the sample solidified at acceleration 360 g were equal to 2845 MPa and 36.4%, respectively, which are the highest values reported to date for Al0.9CoCrFeNi alloy.