Effects of Nitrogen Doping on Microstructures and Irradiation Resistance of Ti-Zr-Nb-V-Mo Refractory High-Entropy Alloy

doi:10.1007/s40195-024-01686-0

Abstract

Abstract:

Interstitial strengthening with nitrogen (N) is one of the effective ways to improve the mechanical properties of HEAs, but the effects of N on the microstructures and mechanical properties of the irradiated HEAs have not been studied extensively. Here, the microstructures and mechanical properties of N-free and N-doped Ti₂ZrNbV_0.5Mo_0.2 HEAs before and after He irradiation were investigated. The results showed that the solid solution strengthening caused by interstitial N improved the yield strength at room temperature and 1023 K without significantly reducing plasticity. N doping significantly promoted the growth, aggregation and wider spatial distribution of He bubbles by enhancing the mobility of He atoms/He-vacancy complexes, with the average size of He bubbles increasing from 10.4 nm in N-free HEA to 31.0 nm in N-doped HEA. In addition, N-doped HEA showed a much higher irradiation hardness increment and hardening fraction than N-free HEA. Contrary to conventional materials doped with N, the introduction of N into Ti₂ZrNbV_0.5Mo_0.2 HEA had adverse effects on its resistance to He bubble growth and irradiation hardening. The results of this study indicated that N doping may not improve the irradiation resistance of HEAs.

Key words: High-entropy alloys, Nitrogen doping, Mechanical properties, Helium bubbles, Irradiation resistance

Huanzhi Zhang, Tianxin Li, Qianqian Wang, Zhenbo Zhu, Hefei Huang, Yiping Lu. Effects of Nitrogen Doping on Microstructures and Irradiation Resistance of Ti-Zr-Nb-V-Mo Refractory High-Entropy Alloy[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2024, 37(6): 1007-1018.

Figures/Tables 14

Fig. 1 SRIM simulation results of displacement damage distribution and He concentration with irradiation depth

Fig. 2 a XRD patterns of N-free and N-doped HEAs; b detailed scans of (110) peaks

Fig. 3 Microstructures of a N-free and b N-doped HEAs

Table 1 Chemical compositions of different regions in N-free and N-doped HEAs identified by WDS (at.%)

Alloys	Regions	Ti	Zr	Nb	V	Mo	N
N0	Dendritic	40.88	17.84	28.58	8.41	4.30	-
N0	Interdendritic	39.02	30.01	16.83	11.55	2.59	-
N1	Dendritic	40.21	16.52	27.22	9.68	4.46	1.91
N1	Interdendritic	38.72	29.20	16.21	11.01	3.04	1.82

Fig. 4 Compressive engineering stress-strain curves of N-free and N-doped HEAs at RT

Table 2 Values of ρm, SYS, and mechanical properties of N-free and N-doped HEAs at RT

Alloys	σ (MPa)	ε (%)	ρ_m (g/cm³)	SYS (kPa·m³·kg⁻¹)
N-free	887	> 50	6.08	145
N-doped	1305	> 50	6.05	217

Fig. 5 a Typical compressive engineering stress-strain curves of N-free and N-doped HEAs at 1023 K; b linear graphs of temperature and yield strength of N-free and N-doped HEAs

Fig. 6 He bubble distribution along depth in a, b N-free; c, d N-doped HEAs

Fig. 7 Morphologies of He bubbles in a, b N-free and c-f N-doped HEAs at high magnification

Fig. 8 He bubble sizes distribution in a N-free, b N-doped HEAs

Table 3 Average size and number density of the He bubbles in the peak damage regions in N-free and N-doped HEAs

Alloys	Average size (nm)	Number density (m⁻³)
N0	10.4	6.73 × 10²¹
N1	31.0	8.71 × 10¹⁹

Fig. 9 Elemental distributions near He bubbles in the peak damage regions of a N-free and b N-doped HEAs

Fig. 10 a, c Nanohardness versus penetration depth of the unirradiated and irradiated N-free and N-doped HEAs; b, d the corresponding profile of H2-h−1

Table 4 Nanoindentation test results of N-free and N-doped HEAs

Alloy	Fluence (ions/cm²)	H₀ (GPa)	ΔH (GPa)	ΔH/H₀ (%)
N-free	0	5.67	-	-
N-free	6 × 10¹⁶	7.01	1.34	23.6
N-doped	0	6.09	-	-
N-doped	6 × 10¹⁶	9.10	3.01	49.4

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