Wear-Resistant High-Entropy Alloy Coatings Fabricated by Laser Cladding: Strengthening Mechanisms, Process Regulation, and Future Perspectives

Abstract

The rapid development of marine engineering, biomedicine, and aerospace industries has continuously increased the demand for materials capable of operating under extreme conditions, including seawater environments, highly oxidizing media, and elevated temperatures. High-entropy alloys (HEAs), leveraging their four core effects—thermodynamic high entropy, kinetic sluggish diffusion, severe lattice distortion, and the cocktail effect—exhibit significant advantages in mechanical properties and wear resistance. Combined with the technical benefits of laser cladding, such as high energy density and rapid heating/cooling cycles, HEAs have become a prominent research hotspot in the field of wear-resistant coatings. This article reviews recent advances in wear-resistant HEA coatings fabricated by laser cladding. The fundamental concepts of HEAs and unique advantages of laser cladding are outlined. Material systems including transition-metal, refractory, lightweight, and HEA-matrix composite coatings are introduced, with their wear mechanisms summarized and analyzed. The influence of laser processing parameters on tribological performance and assisted cladding technologies is discussed. Furthermore, specific industrial applications are presented. Finally, current research status is summarized, and future development directions integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning are prospected, offering valuable references for coating design and industrial implementation.