The FCC to BCC phase transformation kinetics in an Al0.5CoCrFeNi high entropy alloy

Abstract

In this paper, thermal expansion method is used to characterize the phase transformation process of Al0.5CoCrFeNi high entropy alloy (HEA), and the FCC-BCC phase transformation kinetics, microstructure and mechanical properties are investigated. Results show that during continuous heating process, three stages of phase transformation process for Al0.5CoCrFeNi HEA are characterized by thermal expansion curves, and the third stage is corresponding to FCC-BCC phase transformation. The FCC-BCC phase transformation kinetics is analyzed using the thermal expansion experiments carried out at different heating rates. The FCC-BCC phase transformed fraction, f, as a function of temperature is determined from thermal expansion curve. The activation energies, Q, determined by KAS model show an increasing trend which is from 144.4 kJ/mol at initial stage (f = 0.2) to 209.2 kJ/mol when f = 0.8, indicating the barrier for transformation is increasing. The Avrami exponent, n, determined by modified JMA model, varies with transformed fraction, indicating the FCC-BCC phase transition firstly is interface controlled with decreasing nucleation rate (f < 0.05), and changed to diffusion controlled with an increasing nucleation rate (f < 0.15), then diffusion controlled with decreasing nucleation rate. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the corresponding FCC-BCC phase transformation process are also studied.