Experimental and theoretical study of Ti20Zr20Hf20Nb20X20 (X = V or Cr) refractory high-entropy alloys

• Two new high-entropy alloys (Ti20Zr20Hf20Nb20V20 and Ti20Zr20Hf20Nb20Cr20) are investigated.
• The microstructural and mechanical properties are studied at different temperatures.
• Elastic properties of similar refractory high-entropy alloys are predicted via ab initio alloy theory.

We investigated the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti20Zr20Hf20Nb20X20 (X = V or Cr) high-entropy alloys (HEA), produced by induction melting and casting in inert atmosphere. The structures of these alloys were studied via X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy. Results show that Ti20Zr20Hf20Nb20V20 has mainly the body centered cubic (BCC) structure, whereas the BCC matrix of Ti20Zr20Hf20Nb20Cr20 contains small amount of Cr2Nb and Cr2Hf intermetallic compounds. Ti20Zr20Hf20Nb20V20 alloy shows the high strength and the homogeneous deformation under compression at room temperature. The strength and hardness of Ti20Zr20Hf20Nb20Cr20 alloy are further enhanced by the Cr-containing Laves phases segregated during casting. The structural and mechanical properties remained almost unchanged after a short time (10 min) heat treatment at 573, 773, 973 and 1173 K indicating the resistance to working temperature peaks for these two alloys. Ab initio calculations predict ductile behavior for these and similar refractory HEAs. The theoretically calculated Young's modulus E is in good agreement with the experimental ones.