Laser-cladding of high entropy alloy coatings: an overview

High entropy alloys (HEAs), consisting of five or more elements with nearly equal atomic composition with one another (5–35%), are new-generation alloys that have attracted significant interest since their advent in 2004 because of their unique structural and mechanical properties and thermodynamic and chemical stability. Some characteristics, including high mechanical strength at elevated temperatures, high ductility and fracture toughness at cryogenic temperatures and high corrosion, erosion and wear resistance, have been demonstrated for HEAs that outperform traditional alloys and superalloys. Laser-cladding (LC) is an additive manufacturing technique that has good feasibility in designing and processing HEAs for advanced structural components and protective coatings. This overview provides a glimpse of recent advances in LC of HEAs in terms of design fundamentals, metallurgical phase and microstructure, specific properties for advanced coating applications and the effect of ceramic particles reinforcement in LC deposition of HEA coatings.