Design crystallographic ordering in NbTa0.5TiAlx refractory high entropy alloys with strength-plasticity synergy

To make up for the poor strength of high plasticity NbTa0·5Ti refractory medium entropy alloys (MEAs), light metal Al was introduced as alloying element. In this work, the NbTa0·5Ti-Alx (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0) series non-isoatomic refractory high entropy alloys (RHEAs) were prepared by arc melting, and phase equilibrium was predicted by CALPHAD. The effects of Al content and annealing temperature on microstructure and phase evolution, and its mechanical properties were studied. The NbTa0·5Ti-Alx alloys changed from single phase BCC to two-phase A2+B2 crystal structure after adding Al. The hardness and strength of the as-cast alloys are increased by the solution strengthening and precipitation strengthening effect, but the brittleness is increased. The precipitation of Laves of plate-like NbAlTi2 and finer-scale A15 of (needle, particle)-like AlTi3 precipitates at and near grain boundaries after annealing. Higher annealing temperature is beneficial to eliminate dendrites formed by element segregation in the arc melting cooling process and promote grain growth (up to ∼200 μm). This work designed a new alloys with excellent compression plasticity and enriched the field of composition design and aging treatment of the Al-containing second generation RHEAs, so that their microstructure can be better controlled to achieve a balance of strength and plasticity.