Design of refractory multi-principal-element alloys for high-temperature applications
Gaoyuan Ouyang, Prashant Singh, Ranran Su, D. D. Johnson, M. J. Kramer, John H. Perepezko, O.N. Senkov, D.B. Miracle, Jun Cui
Abstract
Abstract Refractory multi-principal-element alloys (RMPEAs) exhibit high specific strength at elevated temperatures ( T ). However, current RMPEAs lack a balance of room-temperature (RT) ductility, high- T strength, and high- T creep resistance. Using density-functional theory methods, we scanned composition space using four criteria: (1) formation energies for operational stability: $$-150\le {E}_{{\rm {f}}}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>150</mml:mn> <mml:mo>≤</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>E</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>f</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> ≤ +70 meV per atom; (2) higher strength found via interstitial electron density with Young’s moduli E > 250 GPa; (3) inverse Pugh ratio for ductility: G / B < 0.57; and (4) high melting points: T m > 2500 °C. Using rapid bulk alloy synthesis and characterization, we validated theory and down-selected promising alloy compositions and discovered Mo 72.3 W 12.8 Ta 10.0 Ti 2.5 Zr 2.5 having well-balanced RT and high- T mechanical properties. This alloy has comparable high- T compressive strength to well-known MoNbTaW but is more ductile and more creep resistant. It is also superior to a commercial Mo-based refractory alloy and a nickel-based superalloy (Haynes-282) with improved high- T tensile strength and creep resistance.