Laser powder bed fusion of Fe60(CoCrNiMn)40 medium-entropy alloy with excellent strength-ductility balance

Abstract

In this study, Fe60(CoCrNiMn)40 medium-entropy alloy (MEA) was fabricated by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) via mixing of pure Fe and FeCoCrNiMn powders, the processability, microstructure and mechanical properties were systematically investigated, and the mechanism of strengthening and toughening were revealed through combination of experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Results show that fraction of BCC phase decreased gradually with increasing volume energy density (VED), and thus heterostructue with varying FCC and BCC phases were produced through regulating the VED. The Fe60(CoCrNiMn)40 MEA (with scanning speeds of 700 and 800 mm/s) showed excellent strength-plasticity balance (e.g. 476 MPa, 612 MPa and 63 %) compared to the equiatomic FeCoCrNiMn HEA, which is ascribed to the synergistic strengthening and toughening effects involving the twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) and the reinforcement caused by the BCC phase (act as reinforced particle) embedded in the FCC matrix.