Microstructure and Performance of Fe50Mn30Cr10Ni10 High-Entropy Alloy Produced by High-Efficiency and Low-Cost Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing

High-entropy alloys exhibiting superior properties have great potential applications in various fields. The ability to achieve efficient and economical production of large size and complex structures of high-entropy alloy is of great significance to promoting its engineering application. Additive manufacturing is the key method to produce the complex component; however, the current trend in additive manufacturing of high-entropy alloys focuses on laser additive manufacturing, which is expensive and time-consuming. Herein, we developed a wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) method with high-efficiency and a low-cost Fe50Mn30Cr10Ni10 high-entropy alloy was successfully produced. The as-produced alloy was composed of face-centered cubic (FCC) phase with minor σ phase. Its microstructure mainly exhibited dendritic and cytosolic dendritic crystals. Mechanical strength of the additive manufactured alloy reached about 448 MPa with a high fracture elongation up to 80%. The additive manufactured alloy had good corrosion resistance with a protecting layer formed on the surface after corrosion testing, which was much better than 45 steel. Additionally, the frictional performance of the additive manufactured alloy was characterized against the grinding parts of steel and Al2O3 balls, and the corresponding friction mechanism was discussed.