Investigation on wear behavior of CoCrFeCuTi high-entropy alloy reinforced Ti6Al4V composites

• 47.2 % hardness increase in 8 wt. % HEA composite due to grain refinement (3.48 μm). • Superior wear resistance from hardness, grain refinement, and oxide layer shielding. • Uniform HEA dispersion (∼17 μm) with a single-phase BCC structure enhances properties. • Wear analysis shows grooves, delamination, cracks, and oxide layer formation effects. The High Entropy Alloys (HEAs) have emerged as a transformative material in several industries like marine, aerospace, and nuclear industries, owing to their exceptional strength, thermal stability, and superior resistance to wear and corrosion. The CoCrFeCuTi HEA particles are synthesized by the ball milling process and attain a mean size of 17 μm. The HEA particles are evenly distributed with a single-phase BCC structure. The HEA particles are reinforced to Ti6Al4V (Ti alloy) with varying concentrations of 2, 4, 6, and 8 wt. % by the microwave sintering process. The 8 wt. % HEA reinforced composite exhibits a high degree of refined grains of mean size 3.48 μm. The improved microhardness of 698 HV is observed on the 8 wt. % HEA reinforced composite, which is 6.7 %, 14.6 %, 23.4 %, and 47.2 % higher than the 6 wt. %, 4 wt. %, and 2 wt. % HEA reinforced composites and Ti alloy respectively due to the effective interfacial bonding and grain refinements. The wear test is performed by pin-on-disc tribometer with various process parameters of 10 to 40 N load, 500 to 2000 m sliding distance, and 0.5 to 3.5 m/s sliding velocity. The 8 wt. % HEA reinforced composite exhibits a greater resistance to wear due to its high hardness, grain refinements, a shielding effect caused by oxide layer formation, and the hindering of grain growth. The wear mechanisms such as grooves, crack formation, delamination, and formation of the oxide layer are analyzed by worn surface morphological evaluation.