Alloy Design and Fabrication of Ingots of Al–Mg–Li–Ca Light-Weight Medium Entropy Alloys
Takeshi Nagase, Akira Terayama, Takashi Nagaoka, Nobuyuki Fuyama, Tatsuaki Sakamoto
Abstract
Alloy designs of light-weight high and medium entropy alloys (LW-HEA and LW-MEA, respectively) are discussed in relation to solving the problem of the empirical alloy parameter, ΔHmix, and the difficulties of the fabrication process. The ingots of newly-designed Al–Mg–Li–Ca LW-MEAs were fabricated by the conventional casting process via crucible melting without using a vacuum furnace, and casting under air atmosphere. The ΔHmix parameter is the average value of the mixing enthalpy of ΔHi-j between the two components, i-j, in the multicomponent alloys, and the dispersion of ΔHi-j cannot be evaluated. The parameter δ(ΔHmix) was suggested for the evaluation of the dispersion of ΔHi-j. The Al–Mg–Li–Ca LW-MEAs were designed based on the empirical alloy parameters, including δ(ΔHmix). The alloy ingots of equiatomic AlMgLiCa, non-equiatomic Al2MgLiCa, and AlMgLiCa0.3 were successfully obtained by the conventional casting process. The solidification microstructure of the ingots in the Al2MgLiCa LW-MEA was investigated, with particular focus on the position dependences of the chemical composition, constituent phases, solidification microstructure, and hardness. The present study clarified that LW-HEAs and LW-MEAs containing Al, Mg, Li, and Ca can be obtained by the conventional casting process under air atmosphere, without specific expensive casting equipment.