Preparation of a hard AlTiVCr compositionally complex alloy by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis

Abstract

In this study, an AlTiVCr compositionally complex alloy with a high hardness of 865 ± 34 HV was prepared by a one-step self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) method using TiO2, V2O5, Cr2O3, and Al as starting materials. Experimental results confirmed the formation of a two-phase alloy having BCC solid solution dendritic grains reinforced by a Ti-rich intermetallic phase. Elemental analysis results confirmed that the Ti at.% in the synthesized alloy was lower than other elements. The addition of extra TiO2 to the reactants, pre-milling of the TiO2-Al mixture, and using the Rutile polymorph of TiO2 instead of Anatase as the starting material increased the atomic percent of Ti. The composition of the proper synthesized alloy was formulated as Al27.3Ti17.2V28.7Cr26.8 which is close to the desired AlTiVCr alloy. To clarify the reaction sequence during the SHS, the binary mixtures were analyzed by thermal analysis. It was postulated that the melting of Al facilitated the reduction reaction of Cr2O3 and VxOy compounds, while TiO2 was the last oxide compound reduced by Al. This hindered the completion of the TiO2 reduction reaction and as a consequence, the unreacted TiO2 entered the slag which lowered the concentration of Ti in the composition of the final alloy.