Strengthening of ferrous medium entropy alloys by promoting phase transformation

The design of medium-entropy alloys (MEAs) with low-cost and high-performance is a hot topic in the field of metal materials. Here, low amount of Co and Ni element is employed to prepare Fe-Co-Ni-Cr MEA, resulting in a reduced material cost of MEA, which also lead to low stacking fault energy and subsequently promote phase transformation in the alloy system. The achieved cost-effective Fe65Co10Ni10Cr15 MEA has excellent cryogenic strength of 1.6 GPa and strain of 56%, which has the highest strength-price ratio among the reported MEAs so far. The significant strengthening of the alloy is attributed to the hetero-deformation and the accelerated deformation-induced phase transformation.

Automated summary

The study focuses on designing a cost-effective Fe65Co10Ni10Cr15 medium-entropy alloy with excellent cryogenic strength of 1.6 GPa and a strain of 56%, demonstrating the highest strength-price ratio among reported MEAs. The alloy's significant strengthening is attributed to hetero-deformation and accelerated deformation-induced phase transformation.