Accelerated precipitation of the B2 particles and its effect on Al0.3CoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy by electric current assisted annealing

Precipitation of the B-2 particles in Al0.3CoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy requires a considerably long time of the thermal exposure. Electric current has proved its capacity to accelerate atomic diffusion. We carried out electric current assisted annealing and proposed a finite precipitation growth model considering gradually reduced growth rate in this study. The proposed model reveals that current boosts precipitation growth by lowering its diffusion activation energy Q(D) leading to the reduction of the required annealing time into 90 min. Owing to the combined contribution of the precipitation strengthening and twinning, the ultimate tensile strength increases from 781.3 to 870.2 MPa after annealing. The precipitated B-2 particles also increase Vickers hardness of the sintered sample from 196.6 +/-( )4.7 to 227.2 +/- 4.9 HV. As a consequence, its wear resistance enhances as the volumetric loss v(s) decreases from 2.392 x 10(-1) to 1.897 x 10(-1) mm(3).

Automated summary

Electric current assisted annealing can accelerate the precipitation of B-2 particles in high-entropy alloys, reduce the required annealing time, and enhance the ultimate tensile strength and hardness of the material.