| Conventional alloy design has been based on improving the properties of a single base, or solvent, element through relatively small additions of other elements. More recently, research has been conducted on alloys that contain multiple principal elements, particularly multi-component equiatomic alloys. When such alloys form solid solution phases, they are termed "high-entropy alloys" (HEAs) due to their high configurational entropy. These alloys often have favorable properties compared to conventional dilute solution alloys, but their compositional complexity and relative novelty means that they remain difficult to design and their basic properties are often unknown.;The motivation for this work is a detailed experimental exploration of some of the basic physical properties of NiFeCrCo-based alloys. NiFeCrCoMn was one of the first equiatomic HEAs developed. As the compositional space within this single system is extremely large, this work focuses primarily on equiatomic alloys and a limited subset of non-equiatomic alloys chosen for their specific properties.;Several alloys are prepared using both conventional methods (arc melting) and nonequilibrium methods (mechanical alloying). Properties studied include stacking fault energy, bulk mechanical properties, single crystal elastic constants, and magnetic properties.;The equiatomic NiFeCrCo and NiFeCrCoMn alloys were found to have a moderate to low stacking fault energy, 18 -- 30 mJ m-2. As they are single-phase, fcc alloys, they have high tensile ductility. Additionally, they also exhibit high work-hardening rates, resulting in high toughness. NiFeCrCo outperforms the 5-component equiatomic alloy in ductility and toughness. A 5-component alloy with higher Co content to reduce the stacking fault energy also performs well. The single crystal elastic constants were measured using nanoindentation modulus measurements of grains of known orientation. The measured elastic constants were consistent with those calculated using first-principles modeling. Adding Zn in addition to Mn resulted in an alloy that preferred to form multiple phases. After the optimal heat treatment, it forms nano-sized grains of FeCo, which results in permanent magnetic behavior at room temperature. |
