Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of the Ti62Nb12Mo12Ta12W2 Refractory High Entropy Alloy Prepared through Spark Plasma Sintering

doi:10.1007/s40195-024-01718-9

Abstract

Abstract:

A refractory high entropy alloy Ti₆₂Nb₁₂Mo₁₂Ta₁₂W₂ was prepared by mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the Ti₆₂Nb₁₂Mo₁₂Ta₁₂W₂ alloy were analyzed. The experimental results show that the microstructure of the alloy is composed of two BCC phases, an FCC precipitated phase, and the precipitated phase which is a mixture of TiC, TiN and TiO. The alloy exhibits good room temperature compressive properties. The plasticity of the sample sintered at 1550 °C can reach 10.8%, and for the sample sintered at 1600 °C, the yield strength can be up to 2032 MPa, in the meantime the plasticity is 9.4%. The alloy also shows high strength at elevated temperature. The yield strength of the alloy exceeds 420 MPa at 900 °C, and value of which is still above 200 MPa when the test temperature reaches 1000 °C. Finally, the compressive yield strength model at room temperature is constructed. The prediction error of the model ranges from − 7.9% to − 12.4%, expressing fair performance.

Key words: Refractory high-entropy alloy (RHEA), Mechanical alloying, Mechanical properties, Model, Spark plasma sintering

Zirui Chen, Liyuan Wang, Jiayu Zhao, Guanhua Cui, Zhuo Gao, Zhiyuan Fan, Xiaohui Shi, Junwei Qiao. Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of the Ti₆₂Nb₁₂Mo₁₂Ta₁₂W₂ Refractory High Entropy Alloy Prepared through Spark Plasma Sintering[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2024, 37(8): 1387-1398.

Figures/Tables 17

Table 1 Basic parameters of the constituent elements of Ti62Nb12Mo12Ta12W2

Element	r (nm)	T_m (K)	VEC	M (g/mol)	ρ (g/cm³)
Ti	0.145	1941	4	47.87	4.51
Nb	0.143	2741	5	92.91	8.57
Mo	0.136	2896	6	95.94	10.23
Ta	0.143	3290	5	180.95	16.68
W	0.137	3695	6	183.84	19.35

Fig. 1 Comparison of the density of Ti62Nb12Mo12Ta12W2 with some typical superalloys and RHEAs

Table 2 Mixing enthalpy of atomic pairs of Ti62Nb12Mo12Ta12W2 [20] (kJ/mol)

Element	Ti	Nb	Mo	Ta	W
Ti	0	2	− 4	1	− 6
Nb		0	− 6	0	− 8
Mo			0	− 5	0
Ta				0	− 7
W					0

Table 3 Phase formation parameters of Ti62Nb12Mo12Ta12W2

ΔS_mix (J/K·mol)	ΔH_mix (kJ/mol)	δ (%)	Ω	VEC
9.461	− 1.372	2.094	16.185	4.52

Fig. 2 X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of Ti62Nb12Mo12Ta12W2 sintered at different temperatures

Fig. 3 SEM-BSE of Ti62Nb12Mo12Ta12W2 sintered at 1550 °C a, local details of the inner part of the brown wire frame b

Fig. 4 SEM-BSE and EDS patterns of Ti62Nb12Mo12Ta12W2 sintered at 1550 °C a,1600 °C b,1650 °C c,1700 °C d

Table 4 Lattice constant of TiC, TiO, TiN [13] and the FCC phase in Ti62Nb12Mo12Ta12W2

	Lattice constant (nm)
TiC	0.433
TiN	0.424
TiO	0.418
1550 °C	0.422
1600 °C	0.423
1650 °C	0.422
1700 °C	0.421

Fig. 5 Hardness values of different phase regions of samples sintered at different temperatures

Fig. 6 Engineering stress-strain curves of Ti62Nb12Mo12Ta12W2 sintered at different temperatures

Table 5 Compression properties of the Ti62Nb12Mo12Ta12W2 alloy at room temperature

Sintering temperature (°C)	Yield strength (MPa)	Peak strength (MPa)	Plasticity (%)
1550	1843	2425	11.7
1600	2032	2290	9.1
1650	1995	2297	8.7
1700	1685	2007	5.8

Fig. 7 Morphologies of T2Nb12Mo12Ta12W2 sintered at 1550 °C a, e, i, 1600 °C b, f, j, 1650 °C c, g, k, 1700 °C d, h, l after compression at room temperature: main crack a-d, side surface e-h, fracture surface i-l

Fig. 8 True stress-strain curves of Ti62Nb12Mo12Ta12W2 RHEA compressed at elevated temperatures and the corresponding macroscopic shape of the samples after compression. The legend indicates the sintering temperature (1550 °C, 1600 °C, 1650 °C, 1700 °C) and test temperature (900 °C, 1000 °C)

Table 6 Compression properties of the Ti62Nb12Mo12Ta12W2 alloy at elevated temperatures

Sintering temperature (°C)	Test temperature (°C)	Yield strength (MPa)
1600	900	374
1650	900	370
1700	900	423
1550	1000	251
1600	1000	227
1700	1000	197

Fig. 9 Metallography of the sample section after compression at 900 °C a-c and 1000 °C d-f

Table 7 Related parameters of the strength model

Parameter	σ_i_y (MPa)	G_i (GPa)	r_i (nm)	K_y (MPa μm^1/2)
Ti	140 [35]	45.6	0.145	190 [39]
Nb	207 [35]	37.5	0.143	340 [39]
Mo	345 [35]	125.6	0.136	630 [39]
Ta	165	69	0.143	760 [39]
W	750 [35]	160.6	0.137	1000 [39]

Table 8 Comparison between the calculated and experimental values of the yield strengths (MPa)

T_sin (°C)	σ₀	Δσ_ss		Δσ_gb	Δσ_dis	Δσ_p	σ_y	σ_exp	Error (%)
T_sin (°C)	σ₀	Δσ_sss	Δσ_iss	Δσ_gb	Δσ_dis	Δσ_p	σ_y	σ_exp	Error (%)
1550	188	908	29	62	401	63	1651	1843	− 10.4
1600			33	61	558	32	1780	2032	− 12.4
1650			36	57	558	48	1795	1995	− 10.0
1700			32	46	349	29	1552	1685	− 7.9

References 41

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Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of the Ti₆₂Nb₁₂Mo₁₂Ta₁₂W₂ Refractory High Entropy Alloy Prepared through Spark Plasma Sintering

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