Journal Home > Volume 10 , Issue 10
Friction 2022, 10(10): 1722-1738 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-022-0606-9
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 09 June 2022

A wear-resistant metastable CoCrNiCu high-entropy alloy with modulated surface and subsurface structures

Show Author's Information Yue REN1,  Qian JIA1,  Yin DU1,  Qing ZHOU1( ),  Christian GREINER2,  Ke HUA1,  Haifeng WANG1( ),  Jian WANG3
State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center of Advanced Lubrication and Seal Materials, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Institute for Applied Materials, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe 76131, Germany
Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA
Keywords:
wear, oxidation, atomic force microscope (AFM), high-entropy alloys (HEA), nano-laminated structure
Cite this article:
REN Y, JIA Q, DU Y, et al. A wear-resistant metastable CoCrNiCu high-entropy alloy with modulated surface and subsurface structures. Friction, 2022, 10(10): 1722-1738. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-022-0606-9
Download citation
EndNote(RIS)
BibTeX

559

Views

21

Downloads

Citations

11

Crossref

8

WoS

12

Scopus

2

CSCD

Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Sliding friction-induced subsurface structures and severe surface oxidation can be the major causes influencing the wear resistance of ductile metallic materials. Here, we demonstrated the role of subsurface and surface structures in enhancing the wear resistance of an equiatomic metastable CoCrNiCu high-entropy alloy (HEA). The CoCrNiCu HEA is composed of a CoCrNi-rich face-centered cubic (FCC) dendrite phase and a Cu-rich FCC inter-dendrite phase. Copious Cu-rich nano-precipitates are formed and distributed uniformly inside the dendrites after tuning the distribution and composition of the two phases by thermal annealing. Although the formation of nano-precipitates decreases the hardness of the alloy due to the loss of solid solution strengthening, these nano-precipitates can be deformed to form continuous Cu-rich nanolayers during dry sliding, leading to a self-organized nano-laminated microstructure and extensive hardening in the subsurface. In addition, the nano-precipitates can facilitate the formation of continuous and compacted glaze layers on the worn surface, which are also beneficial for the reduction of the wear rate of CoCrNiCu. The current work can be extended to other alloy systems and might provide guidelines for designing and fabricating wear-resistant alloys in general.


menu
Abstract
Full text
Outline
Electronic supplementary material
About this article

A wear-resistant metastable CoCrNiCu high-entropy alloy with modulated surface and subsurface structures

Show Author's information Yue REN1, Qian JIA1, Yin DU1, Qing ZHOU1( ), Christian GREINER2, Ke HUA1, Haifeng WANG1( ), Jian WANG3
State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center of Advanced Lubrication and Seal Materials, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Institute for Applied Materials, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe 76131, Germany
Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA

Abstract

Sliding friction-induced subsurface structures and severe surface oxidation can be the major causes influencing the wear resistance of ductile metallic materials. Here, we demonstrated the role of subsurface and surface structures in enhancing the wear resistance of an equiatomic metastable CoCrNiCu high-entropy alloy (HEA). The CoCrNiCu HEA is composed of a CoCrNi-rich face-centered cubic (FCC) dendrite phase and a Cu-rich FCC inter-dendrite phase. Copious Cu-rich nano-precipitates are formed and distributed uniformly inside the dendrites after tuning the distribution and composition of the two phases by thermal annealing. Although the formation of nano-precipitates decreases the hardness of the alloy due to the loss of solid solution strengthening, these nano-precipitates can be deformed to form continuous Cu-rich nanolayers during dry sliding, leading to a self-organized nano-laminated microstructure and extensive hardening in the subsurface. In addition, the nano-precipitates can facilitate the formation of continuous and compacted glaze layers on the worn surface, which are also beneficial for the reduction of the wear rate of CoCrNiCu. The current work can be extended to other alloy systems and might provide guidelines for designing and fabricating wear-resistant alloys in general.

Keywords: wear, oxidation, atomic force microscope (AFM), high-entropy alloys (HEA), nano-laminated structure

References(58)

[1]
Hua D P, Xia Q S, Wang W, Zhou Q, Li S, Qian D, Shi J Q, Wang H F. Atomistic insights into the deformation mechanism of a CoCrNi medium entropy alloy under nanoindentation. Int J Plasticity 142: 102997 (2021)
DOI Google Scholar
[2]
Zhang Y, Zuo T T, Tang Z, Gao M C, Dahmen K A, Liaw P K, Lu Z P. Microstructures and properties of high-entropy alloys. Prog Mater Sci 61: 1–93 (2014)
DOI Google Scholar
[3]
Laplanche G, Kostka A, Reinhart C, Hunfeld J, Eggeler G, George E P. Reasons for the superior mechanical properties of medium-entropy CrCoNi compared to high-entropy CrMnFeCoNi. Acta Mater 128: 292–303 (2017)
DOI Google Scholar
[4]
Li W, Chou T H, Yang T, Chuang W S, Huang J C, Chen F R. Design of ultrastrong but ductile medium-entropy alloy with controlled precipitations and heterogeneous grain structures. Appl Mater Today 23: 101037 (2021)
DOI Google Scholar
[5]
Gludovatz B, Hohenwarter A, Thurston K V, Bei H B, Wu Z G, George E P, Ritchie R O. Exceptional damage-tolerance of a medium-entropy alloy CrCoNi at cryogenic temperatures. Nat Commun 7:10602 (2016)
DOI Google Scholar
[6]
Velişa G, Fan Z, Crespillo M L, Bei H, Weber W J, Zhang Y. Temperature effects on damage evolution in ion-irradiated NiCoCr concentrated solid-solution alloy. J Alloy Compd 832: 154918 (2020)
DOI Google Scholar
[7]
Wang J Y, Li W H, Yang H L, Huang H, Ji S X, Ruan J M, Liu Z L. Corrosion behavior of CoCrNi medium-entropy alloy compared with 304 stainless steel in H2SO4 and NaOH solutions. Corros Sci 177: 108973.1–108973.11 (2020)
DOI Google Scholar
[8]
Pan S, Zhao C C, Wei P B, Ren F Z. Sliding wear of CoCrNi medium-entropy alloy at elevated temperatures: Wear mechanism transition and subsurface microstructure evolution. Wear 440-441: 203108 (2019)
DOI Google Scholar
[9]
Erdoğan A, Gök M S, Zeytin S. Analysis of the high-temperature dry sliding behavior of CoCrFeNiTi0.5Alx high-entropy alloys. Friction 8(1):198–207 (2020)
DOI Google Scholar
[10]
Du X H, Li W P, Chang H T, Yang T, Duan G S, Wu B L, Huang J C, Chen F R, Liu C T, Chuang W S, Lu Y, Sui M L, Huang E W. Dual heterogeneous structures lead to ultrahigh strength and uniform ductility in a Co–Cr–Ni medium-entropy alloy. Nat Commun 11(1): 2390 (2020)
DOI Google Scholar
[11]
Yang M X, Zhou L L, Wang C, Jiang P, Yuan F P, Ma E, Wu X L. High impact toughness of CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy at liquid-helium temperature. Scripta Mater 172: 66–71 (2019)
DOI Google Scholar
[12]
Zhang Z J, Sheng H S, Wang Z J, Gludovatz B, Zhang Z, George E P, Yu Q, Mao S X, Ritchie R O. Dislocation mechanisms and 3D twin architectures generate exceptional strength-ductility-toughness combination in CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy. Nat Commun 8: 14390 (2017)
DOI Google Scholar
[13]
Miao J, Guo T, Ren J, Zhang A, Su B, Meng J. Optimization of mechanical and tribological properties of FCC CrCoNi multi-principal element alloy with Mo addition. Vacuum 149: 324–330 (2018)
DOI Google Scholar
[14]
Chuang M, Tsai M, Wang W, Lin S, Yeh J. Microstructure and wear behavior of AlxCo1.5CrFeNi1.5Tiy high-entropy alloys. Acta Mater 59(16): 6308–6317 (2011)
DOI Google Scholar
[15]
Bai L Y, Wan S H, Yi G W, Shan Y, Pham S T, Tieu A K, Li Y, Wang R D. Temperature-mediated tribological characteristics of 40CrNiMoA steel and Inconel 718 alloy during sliding against Si3N4 counterparts. Friction 9(5): 1175–1197 (2020)
DOI Google Scholar
[16]
Zhou Q, Han W C, Luo D W, Du Y, Xie J Y, Wang X Z, Zou Q G, Zhao X X, Wang H F, Beake B D. Mechanical and tribological properties of Zr–Cu–Ni–Al bulk metallic glasses with dual-phase structure. Wear 474–475: 203880 (2021)
DOI Google Scholar
[17]
Alvi S, Jarzabek D M, Kohan M G, Hedman D, Jenczyk P, Natile M M, Vomiero A, Akhtar F. Synthesis and mechanical characterization of a CuMoTaWV high-entropy film by magnetron sputtering. ACS Appl Mater Inter 12(18): 21070–21079 (2020)
DOI Google Scholar
[18]
Vencl A, Bobić I, Bobić B, Jakimovska K, Svoboda P, Kandeva M. Erosive wear properties of ZA-27 alloy-based nanocomposites: Influence of type, amount, and size of nanoparticle reinforcements. Friction 7(4): 340–350 (2019)
DOI Google Scholar
[19]
Chen X, Han Z, Lu K. Friction and wear reduction in copper with a gradient nano-grained surface layer. ACS Appl Mater Inter 10(16): 13829–13838 (2018)
DOI Google Scholar
[20]
Zhu W W, Zhao C C, Zhang Y W, Kwok C T, Luan J H, Jiao Z B, Ren F Z. Achieving exceptional wear resistance in a compositionally complex alloy via tuning the interfacial structure and chemistry. Acta Mater 188: 697–710 (2020)
DOI Google Scholar
[21]
Chu K, Ren F, Zhu W, Zhao C, Bellon P, Averback R S. Sliding wear induced subsurface microstructural evolution in nanocrystalline Nb–Ag binary alloys and its impact on tribological performance. Wear 392–393: 69–76 (2017)
DOI Google Scholar
[22]
Zheng B C, Li W, Tu X H, Xing J D, Song S C. Effect of interaction between cementite and pearlite on two-body abrasive wear behaviors in white cast iron. Friction 9(6): 1378–1389 (2020)
DOI Google Scholar
[23]
Sannino A P, Rack H J. Dry sliding wear of discontinuously reinforced aluminum composites review and discussion. Wear 189: 1–19 (1995)
DOI Google Scholar
[24]
Yin C, Liang Y, Liang Y, Li W, Yang M. Formation of a self-lubricating layer by oxidation and solid-state amorphization of nano-lamellar microstructures during dry sliding wear tests. Acta Mater 166: 208–220 (2019)
DOI Google Scholar
[25]
Dreano A, Fouvry S, Sao-Joao S, Galipaud J, Guillonneau G. The formation of a cobalt-based glaze layer at high temperature: A layered structure. Wear 440–441: 203101 (2019)
DOI Google Scholar
[26]
Chen X, Han Z, Li X, Lu K. Lowering coefficient of friction in Cu alloys with stable gradient nanostructures. Sci Adv 2: 1601942 (2016)
DOI Google Scholar
[27]
Greiner C, Gagel J, Gumbsch P. Solids Under extreme shear: Friction-mediated subsurface structural transformations. Adv Mater 31(26): e1806705 (2019)
DOI Google Scholar
[28]
Trimby P W, Cao Y, Chen Z B, Han S, Hemker K J, Lian J, Liao X Z, Rottmann P, Samudrala S, Sun J L, et al. Characterizing deformed ultrafine-grained and nanocrystalline materials using transmission Kikuchi diffraction in a scanning electron microscope. Acta Mater 62: 69–80 (2014)
DOI Google Scholar
[29]
Tran Khac B C, Chung K H. Quantitative assessment of contact and non-contact lateral force calibration methods for atomic force microscopy. Ultramicroscopy 161: 41–50 (2016)
DOI Google Scholar
[30]
Ken M G, Kempf M, Nix W D. Hardness and modulus of the lamellar microstructure in PST–TiAl studied by nanoindentaion and AFM. Acta Mater 49: 903–911 (2001)
DOI Google Scholar
[31]
Du Y, Zhou Q, Jia Q, Shi Y D, Wang H F, Wang J. Imparities of shear avalanches dynamic evolution in a metallic glass. Mater Res Lett 8: 357–363 (2020)
DOI Google Scholar
[32]
Zhou Q, Du Y, Han W C, Ren Y, Zhai H M, Wang H F. Identifying the origin of strain rate sensitivity in a high entropy bulk metallic glass. Scripta Mater 164: 121–125 (2019)
DOI Google Scholar
[33]
Yang T, Zhao Y L, Fan L, Wei J, Luan J H, Liu W H, Wang C, Jiao Z B, Kai J-J, Liu C T. Control of nanoscale precipitation and elimination of intermediate-temperature embrittlement in multicomponent high-entropy alloys. Acta Mater 189: 47–59 (2020)
DOI Google Scholar
[34]
Yadav S, Sarkar S, Aggarwal A, Kumar A, Biswas K. Wear and mechanical properties of novel (CuCrFeTiZn)100-xPbx high entropy alloy composite via mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering. Wear 410–411: 93–109 (2018)
DOI Google Scholar
[35]
Liu X, Zeng M Q, Ma Y, Zhu M. Wear behavior of Al–Sn alloys with different distribution of Sn dispersoids manipulated by mechanical alloying and sintering. Wear 265(11–12): 1857–1863 (2008)
DOI Google Scholar
[36]
Ren F, Zhu W, Chu K. Fabrication, tribological and corrosion behaviors of ultra-fine grained Co–28Cr–6Mo alloy for biomedical applications. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater 60: 139–147 (2016)
DOI Google Scholar
[37]
Zhou Q, Ren Y, Du Y, Han W, C Hua D P, Zhai H M, Huang P, Wang F, Wang H F. Identifying the significance of Sn addition on the tribological performance of Ti-based bulk metallic glass composites. J Alloy Compd 780: 671–679 (2019)
DOI Google Scholar
[38]
Joseph J, Haghdadi N, Shamlaye K, Hodgson P, Barnett M, Fabijanic D. The sliding wear behaviour of CoCrFeMnNi and AlxCoCrFeNi high entropy alloys at elevated temperatures. Wear 428–429: 32–44 (2019)
DOI Google Scholar
[39]
Lehmann J S, Schwaiger R, Rinke M, Greiner C. How tribo-oxidation alters the tribological properties of copper and its oxides. Adv Mater Inter 8(1): 2001673 (2020)
DOI Google Scholar
[40]
Archard J F. Contact and Rubbing of Flat Surfaces. J Appl Phys 24(8): 981–988 (1953)
DOI Google Scholar
[41]
R M, Bellon P, Averback R S. Wear Resistance of Cu/Ag Multilayers: A Microscopic Study. ACS Appl Mater Inter 10(17):15288–15297 (2018)
DOI Google Scholar
[42]
Cheng Z, Yang L, Huang Z K, Wan T, Zhu M Y, Ren F Z. Achieving low wear in a μ-phase reinforced high-entropy alloy and associated subsurface microstructure evolution. Wear 474-475: 203755 (2021)
DOI Google Scholar
[43]
Zhang Z, Lin G, Zhang S, Zhou J. Effects of Ce on microstructure and mechanical properties of pure copper. Mater Sci Eng A 457(1–2): 313–318 (2007)
DOI Google Scholar
[44]
Clair A, Foucault M, Calonne O, Lacroute Y, Markey L, Salazar M, Vignal V, Finot E. Strain mapping near a triple junction in strained Ni-based alloy using EBSD and biaxial nanogauges. Acta Mater 59(8): 3116–3123 (2011)
DOI Google Scholar
[45]
Huang C X, Wang Y F, Ma X L, Yin S, Höppel H W, Göken M, Wu X L, Gao H J, Zhu Y T. Interface affected zone for optimal strength and ductility in heterogeneous laminate. Mater Today 21(7): 713–719 (2018)
DOI Google Scholar
[46]
Zhou Q, Li Y, Wang F, Huang P, Lu T J, Xu K W. Length-scale-dependent deformation mechanism of Cu/X (X = Ru, W) multilayer thin films. Mater Sci Eng A 664: 206–214 (2016)
DOI Google Scholar
[47]
Luo D W, Zhou Q, Ye W T, Ren Y, Greiner C, He Y X, Wang H F. Design and characterization of self-lubricating refractory high entropy alloy-based multilayered films. ACS Appl Mater Inter 13: 55712–55725 (2021)
DOI Google Scholar
[48]
Hua D P, Wang W, Luo D W, Zhou Q, Li S, Shi J Q, Fu M S, Wang H F. Molecular dynamics simulation of the tribological performance of amorphous/amorphous nano-laminates. J Mater Sci Technol 105: 226–236 (2022)
DOI Google Scholar
[49]
Pang J Y, Zhang H W, Zhang L, Zhu Z W, Fu H, Li H, Wang A M, Li Z K, Zhang H F. Ductile Ti1.5ZrNbAl0.3 refractory high entropy alloy with high specific strength. Mater Lett 290: 129428–129428 (2021)
DOI Google Scholar
[50]
Zhao Y F, Zhang J Y, Wang Y Q, Wu K, Liu G, Sun J. Unusual plastic deformation behavior of nanotwinned Cu/high entropy alloy FeCoCrNi nanolaminates. Nanoscale 11(23): 11340–1150 (2019)
DOI Google Scholar
[51]
Moon J, Tabachnikova E, Shumilin S, Hryhorova T, Estrin Y, Brechtl J, et al. Unraveling the discontinuous plastic flow of a Co–Cr–Fe–Ni–Mo multiprincipal-element alloy at deep cryogenic temperatures. Phys Rev Mater 5(8): 083601 (2021)
DOI Google Scholar
[52]
Hasan M N, Liu Y F, An X H, Gu J, Song M, Cao Y, Li Y S, Zhu Y T, Liao X Z. Simultaneously enhancing strength and ductility of a high-entropy alloy via gradient hierarchical microstructures. Inter J Plasticity 123: 178–195 (2019)
DOI Google Scholar
[53]
Gao B, Lai Q Q, Cao Y, Hu R, Xiao L R, Pan Z Y, Liang N N, Li Y S, Sha G, Liu M P, Zhou H, Wu X L, Zhu Y T. Ultrastrong low-carbon nanosteel produced byheterostructure and interstitial mediated warm rolling. Sci Adv 6: 8169–8192 (2020)
DOI Google Scholar
[54]
Lu Z C, Zeng M Q, Gao Y, Zhu M. Minimizing tribolayer damage by strength–ductility matching in dual-scale structured Al–Sn alloys: A mechanism for improving wear performance. Wear 304(1–2): 162–172 (2013)
DOI Google Scholar
[55]
Verma A, Tarate P, Abhyankar A C, Mohape M R, Gowtam D S, Deshmukh V P, Shanmugasundaram T. High temperature wear in CoCrFeNiCux high entropy alloys: The role of Cu. Scripta Mater 161: 28–31 (2019)
DOI Google Scholar
[56]
Xin B, Yu Y, Zhou J, Wang L, Ren S. Effect of copper molybdate on the lubricating properties of NiCrAlY laser clad coating at elevated temperatures. Surf Coat Tech 313: 328–336 (2017)
DOI Google Scholar
[57]
Hiratsuka K, Muramoto K. Role of wear particles in severe–mild wear transition. Wear 259(1–6): 467–476 (2005)
DOI Google Scholar
[58]
Ghosh D, Subhash G, Radhakrishnan R, Sudarshan T S. Scratch-induced microplasticity and microcracking in zirconium diboride–silicon carbide composite. Acta Mater 56(13): 3011–3022 (2008)
DOI Google Scholar
File
40544_0606_ESM.pdf (888.2 KB)
Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Rights and permissions

Publication history

Received: 06 September 2021
Revised: 11 January 2022
Accepted: 09 February 2022
Published: 09 June 2022
Issue date: October 2022

Copyright

© The author(s) 2022.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51801161) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 3102019JC001).

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Return