Effect of Si addition on microstructure and wear behavior of AlCoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy coatings prepared by laser cladding

AlCoCrFeNiSix (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) high-entropy alloy (HEA) coatings were deposited on the surface of AISI 304 stainless steel via laser cladding technology with different content of Si element. The evolution in microstructure, microhardness, and wear behavior of the coatings was investigated comprehensively to explore the effect of Si element. The results showed that the HEA coatings consisted of disordered Fe-Cr and ordered Al-Ni solid solution phases with a body-centered cubic (BCC) structure. Si element dissolved into the solid solutions, leading to lattice distortion. As Si content increased, the microstructure was refined, and a small quantity of Cr23C6 phase was precipitated along the grain boundaries. The microhardness of the coatings was linearly proportionate to Si content. The quantitative analysis revealed that the improvement of microhardness was dominated by the effect of dislocation strengthening, rather than solution strengthening and fine-grain strengthening. With the increase in Si content, the average friction coefficient and wear rate of the HEA coatings were all reduced remarkably, and the main wear mechanism evolved from adhesive wear, abrasive wear and delamination wear to oxidation wear. These phenomena were believed to be associated with the formation of the oxide film on the worn surface, which was identified as Fe2O3, Fe3O4, Cr2O3, SiO2, and SiO.