{"title":"First-principles study on phase formation and basic properties of M5Si3-type high-entropy refractory metal silicides","authors":"Pengfei Zhao , Jingyi Xiao , Huicong Li, Laiqi Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108959","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108959","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The M<sub>5</sub>Si<sub>3</sub>-type high-entropy refractory metal silicides (HERMS) have emerged as strong candidates for novel ultra-high temperature structural materials due to their high melting points, relatively low density, and excellent high-temperature oxidation resistance. To explore the phase formation rules of M<sub>5</sub>Si<sub>3</sub>-type HERMS and reveal the characteristics and underlying mechanisms of their fundamental properties (thereby providing theoretical support for their design and application as ultra-high temperature materials), the phase formation parameters of 70 quinary D8<sub>m</sub>-type HERMS were calculated, and the D8<sub>m</sub>-phase (MoNbReTaV)<sub>5</sub>Si<sub>3</sub> was successfully synthesized experimentally, validating the accuracy of the calculations. Electronic structure, elastic constants, and thermodynamic properties of (MoNbReTaV)<sub>5</sub>Si<sub>3</sub>, (MoNbHfZrTa)<sub>5</sub>Si<sub>3</sub>, and (MoNbHfZrV)<sub>5</sub>Si<sub>3</sub> were investigated via first-principles calculations. The results demonstrate that electrons predominantly occupy the M-4d orbitals, with the occupancy of the d orbitals being a critical factor influencing the mechanical properties of HERMS; Ta exerts a more significant toughening effect on HERMS than V; the thermodynamic stability of the three materials increases with rising temperature.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":331,"journal":{"name":"Intermetallics","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 108959"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144829882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IntermetallicsPub Date : 2025-08-12DOI: 10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108957
Lu Mao , Haitao Li , Hang Guo , Xingguang Jin , Dongdong He , Qisheng Feng , Pengyue Gao , Guangyao Chen , Chonghe Li
{"title":"Effect of superheating on the structure and mechanical properties of Ti-46Al-8Nb alloy induction-melted in the fused BaZrO3 crucible","authors":"Lu Mao , Haitao Li , Hang Guo , Xingguang Jin , Dongdong He , Qisheng Feng , Pengyue Gao , Guangyao Chen , Chonghe Li","doi":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108957","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108957","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, kilogram-level experiments for preparing the Ti-46Al-8Nb alloy were conducted using vacuum induction melting with a self-developed fused BaZrO<sub>3</sub> crucible. The effects of melting and casting temperatures (1560 °C, 1600 °C, and 1700 °C) on the alloy's oxygen content, structure, and mechanical properties were systematically investigated. The results showed that the alloy after melting at 1560 °C exhibited the lowest oxygen content (916 ppm), the smallest shrinkage cavities and cellular dendrites, along with the least amount of brittle α<sub>2</sub> phase. However, the formation of numerous microcracks within the alloy significantly deteriorated its mechanical properties. The alloy after melting at 1700 °C had the highest oxygen content (2941 ppm), the largest shrinkage cavities and dendrites, and the greatest amount of α<sub>2</sub> phase, all of which contributed to its poorest mechanical properties. In contrast, the alloy after melting at 1600 °C achieved a favorable balance among oxygen content (1169 ppm), microstructure, and phase composition, thereby exhibiting the best mechanical properties among the three alloys, with a tensile strength of 706 MPa and a fracture strain of 1.10 %.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":331,"journal":{"name":"Intermetallics","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 108957"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144829880","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IntermetallicsPub Date : 2025-08-06DOI: 10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108950
Wei Wei , Lei He , He Zhang , Ze Yao , Minghua Chen , Junwen Ji , Fufa Wu
{"title":"Tuning the mechanical properties of AlCoCrFeNi2.1 laser-welded joints through aging heat treatment","authors":"Wei Wei , Lei He , He Zhang , Ze Yao , Minghua Chen , Junwen Ji , Fufa Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108950","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108950","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Herein, the aging heat treatment was employed to optimize the microstructure and mechanical properties of the AlCoCrFeNi<sub>2.1</sub> laser-welded joints. Microstructural and mechanical characterizations of the as-welded and as-aged samples were conducted via X-ray diffraction, thermodynamic calculation, electron backscattered, and transmission electron microscopy. Tensile testing results of the as-aged AlCoCrFeNi<sub>2.1</sub> welded joints, when compared to as-welded counterparts, indicate that aging heat treatment enhances tensile strength with a minimal compromise in the elongation. Subsequent in-depth exploration into the strengthening mechanism uncovers that grain refinement and precipitation strengthening are primarily responsible for the improvement in the strength, with a minor decreased contribution from dislocation strengthening. The determined tensile properties of the as-welded, as-aged 6h, and as-aged 8h samples are 836.52 MPa, 905.73 MPa, 969.99 MPa of yield strength, 1188.14 MPa, 1276.90 MPa, 1481.60 MPa of ultimate tensile strength, with an elongation of 11.06 %, 9.63 %, and 9.17 %, respectively. These outcomes demonstrate the achievement of an optimal balance between strength and plasticity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":331,"journal":{"name":"Intermetallics","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 108950"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144780353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IntermetallicsPub Date : 2025-08-05DOI: 10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108937
Jing Xie , Xinyue Lan , Chenggang Jin , Xinyue Huang , Shuhong Liu , Biao Hu
{"title":"The phase equilibria of the Cu–Zr–V system supported by experiments and CALPHAD method","authors":"Jing Xie , Xinyue Lan , Chenggang Jin , Xinyue Huang , Shuhong Liu , Biao Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108937","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108937","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The phase equilibria of the Cu–Zr–V system at 900, 800, 700 and 600 °C were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS). The solubilities of third element in the binary phase i.e., V<sub>2</sub>Zr, Cu<sub>5</sub>Zr, Cu<sub>51</sub>Zr<sub>14</sub>, Cu<sub>10</sub>Zr<sub>7</sub>, Cu<sub>8</sub>Zr<sub>3</sub>, CuZr and CuZr<sub>2</sub>, were determined. Two ternary compounds, CuZrV and CuZr<sub>6</sub>V<sub>3</sub>, were identified, with the CuZr<sub>6</sub>V<sub>3</sub> phase being newly discovered. Compositional analyses revealed the CuZrV phase as Cu<sub>28.8</sub>Zr<sub>39.8</sub>V<sub>31.4</sub>at 900 °C and Cu<sub>33.5</sub>Zr<sub>37.3</sub>V<sub>29.2</sub> at 800 °C, while the CuZr<sub>6</sub>V<sub>3</sub> phase exhibited compositions of Cu<sub>9.0</sub>Zr<sub>57.8</sub>V<sub>33.2</sub> at 900 °C and Cu<sub>5.9</sub>Zr<sub>57.4</sub>V<sub>36.7</sub> at 700 °C. A thermodynamic assessment of the Cu-Zr-V system was performed using the CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagrams) approach, employing substitutional solution models for solution phases and sublattice models for intermetallic compounds. The ternary compounds CuZrV and CuZr<sub>6</sub>V<sub>3</sub> were described as (Cu)<sub>1</sub>(Zr)<sub>1</sub>(V)<sub>1</sub> and (Cu)<sub>1</sub>(Zr)<sub>6</sub>(V)<sub>3</sub>, respectively. A set of self-consistent thermodynamic parameters of the Cu–Zr–V system was obtained. The isothermal sections at 900, 800, 700 and 600 °C and liquidus projection were calculated, and the reaction scheme was constructed. The calculated phase equilibria show good agreement with experimental observations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":331,"journal":{"name":"Intermetallics","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 108937"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144771320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IntermetallicsPub Date : 2025-08-04DOI: 10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108940
Qingpeng Shen , Munan Yang , Sangen Luo , Ihor Bulky , Shixian Xiong , Honglong Yang , Yifan Wang , Luohan Zhang , Shuwei Zhong , Jiajie Li , Xiaoqiang Yu
{"title":"Dual enhancement mechanism for grain boundary optimization and magnetic properties in Ce magnets: The critical role of Ga/Cu in PrFe-based alloys (PrFe, PrFeGa, PrFeCuGa)","authors":"Qingpeng Shen , Munan Yang , Sangen Luo , Ihor Bulky , Shixian Xiong , Honglong Yang , Yifan Wang , Luohan Zhang , Shuwei Zhong , Jiajie Li , Xiaoqiang Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108940","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108940","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To counteract the adverse effects of Ce element on the magnetic properties of NdFeB magnets, this research utilizes a grain boundary addition technique with low-melting-point PrFe-based alloy, achieving successful fabrication of magnets exhibiting dual enhancement in both remanence and coercivity. The experimental results showed that the PFG (PrFeGa) magnet exhibited an increase in coercivity from 11.45 kOe (original magnet) to 14.25 kOe with a slight improvement in remanence, while the PFCG(PrFeCuGa) magnet achieved a remanence increase of 0.52 kGs and a coercivity enhancement of 2.49 kOe. The introduction of the PrFe-based alloy optimized the grain boundary phase ratio, distribution uniformity, and fluidity, while enhancing the alignment consistency of the main phase and the proportion of Ce<sup>3+</sup> ions within its unit cells, thereby promoting the improvement of both remanence and coercivity in the magnet. First-principles calculations of formation energy demonstrate that in PFG magnets, Ga promotes the formation of antiferromagnetic 6:13:1 phase to weaken main-phase magnetic exchange coupling and enhance coercivity, while in PFCG magnets, Cu suppresses 6:13:1 phase formation but excess RE and Fe elements form Pr-rich regenerated main phase between the main phase and RE-rich phase, significantly improving remanence through increased main-phase proportion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":331,"journal":{"name":"Intermetallics","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 108940"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144771321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IntermetallicsPub Date : 2025-07-31DOI: 10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108929
A. Sławek , K. Berent , J. Cieslak
{"title":"Structural and Mössbauer investigations of the FeCoNiPd-X high entropy alloys","authors":"A. Sławek , K. Berent , J. Cieslak","doi":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108929","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108929","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The concept of single-phase high-entropy alloys (HEAs) remains central to the design of advanced structural materials, due to the superior mechanical and functional properties associated with chemically disordered solid solutions. In this study, we investigate the effect of adding selected elements (Cu, V, Mn, Al, Ti) to the canonical equiatomic FeCoNiPd alloy, which crystallizes in a face-centered cubic (fcc) structure. The aim was to identify which elemental additions preserve the single-phase character and favorable structural properties of the parent alloy. Comprehensive characterization, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), and Mössbauer spectroscopy, was used to evaluate the phase stability, microstructure, and magnetic behavior of the resulting alloys. Among the tested compositions, only the Cu- and V-containing alloys retained the single-phase fcc structure, while the addition of Mn, Al, or Ti led to multiphase systems. These findings demonstrate that Cu and V are promising candidates for compositional tuning of FeCoNiPd-based HEAs without compromising their structural simplicity, offering valuable insights into the design of chemically stable multicomponent alloys.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":331,"journal":{"name":"Intermetallics","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 108929"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144737992","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IntermetallicsPub Date : 2025-07-31DOI: 10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108935
Minghe Zhang , Qixuan Hao , Dongpo Xuan , Liguang Wang , Ning Xu , Yunli Feng , Shilei Li
{"title":"Realizing outstanding strength-ductility combination in dual-phase casting AlCoCrNi high-entropy alloy","authors":"Minghe Zhang , Qixuan Hao , Dongpo Xuan , Liguang Wang , Ning Xu , Yunli Feng , Shilei Li","doi":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108935","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108935","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this work, a novel cast Al<sub>17</sub>Co<sub>17.66</sub>Cr<sub>17.67</sub>Ni<sub>47.67</sub> high entropy alloy (HEA) consisting of duplex phases with an L1<sub>2</sub> to B2 phase ratio of 1:3 was fabricated and studied. The alloy exhibits outstanding mechanical properties with an ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of ∼1208 MPa and a large uniform elongation (UE) of ∼19.7 %, exceeding that of many previously reported as-cast alloys. The remarkable synergy between strength and ductility of this material stems from the extensive dislocation slip mechanisms in both L1<sub>2</sub> and B2 phases, coupled with the martensitic transformation within the B2 phase.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":331,"journal":{"name":"Intermetallics","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 108935"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144737991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IntermetallicsPub Date : 2025-07-30DOI: 10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108939
Qing Wang , Shiyu Xu , Wenwei Huang , Qiangqiang Cheng , Siyi Wu , Yuan Qin , Ming Huang
{"title":"Strengthening and ductilization effect of boron in L12-type high-entropy intermetallic compounds","authors":"Qing Wang , Shiyu Xu , Wenwei Huang , Qiangqiang Cheng , Siyi Wu , Yuan Qin , Ming Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108939","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108939","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As a promising candidate for high-temperature structural materials, L1<sub>2</sub>-type high-entropy intermetallic compound (HEIC) still encounters the problem of room-temperature brittleness. Microalloying with boron has been demonstrated to be an effective strategy for improving the ductility of HEICs. Nevertheless, the precise influence of boron on the microstructure and mechanical properties of HEICs remains unclear. To better understand the role of boron, a seires of Ni-Co-Fe-Cr-Al-Ti HEICs with varying boron concentrations (0.1–2.0 at.%) were systematically investigated. when the boron content is below 1.0 at.%, the HEIC exhibited a nearly single-phase L1<sub>2</sub> ordered structure. However, at higher boron concentrations, TiB<sub>2</sub> particles began to form at grain boundaries and interdendritic regions. Solute boron showed significant solid solution strengthening on the HEICs with a strengthening potency of approximately 270 MPa/at%. Appropriate boron doping effectively improved the ductility of L1<sub>2</sub>-type HEICs by enhancing the grain boundary cohesion, with the highest ductility achieved at 0.5 at.% boron doping. The formation of TiB<sub>2</sub> particles had a negligible effect on yield strength, but adversely affected ductility. These findings deepen our understanding of the strengthening mechanisms in L1<sub>2</sub>-type HEICs and provide valuable guidance for the design of novel HEICs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":331,"journal":{"name":"Intermetallics","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 108939"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144737990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IntermetallicsPub Date : 2025-07-28DOI: 10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108923
W.J. Carpenter , Y. Yang , B. Gludovatz , W.A. Curtin , E.P. George
{"title":"Effects of HCP/BCC element ratios on the room-temperature tensile properties of Ti-Zr-Hf-Nb-Ta refractory high-entropy alloys","authors":"W.J. Carpenter , Y. Yang , B. Gludovatz , W.A. Curtin , E.P. George","doi":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108923","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intermet.2025.108923","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Equiatomic and non-equiatomic Ti-Zr-Hf-Nb-Ta refractory high-entropy alloys (RHEAs) were arc melted, homogenized, cold rolled, and recrystallized to produce single-phase, body-centered cubic (BCC), microstructures with weak texture and equiaxed grains 76–199 μm in size. The non-equiatomic alloys had either a 60:40 or 80:20 atomic ratio of hexagonal close-packed (HCP) elements (Ti + Zr + Hf) to BCC elements (Nb + Ta). Alloy compositions were measured after thermomechanical processing to determine the concentrations of the major (substitutional) and minor (interstitial) elements. We investigated how elastic constants and uniaxial tensile properties were affected by changes in the relative concentrations of the constituent elements at fixed HCP:BCC ratios. Yield strengths ranged from 801 to 922 MPa and ultimate tensile strengths from 815 to 933 MPa. Good agreement is obtained between the experimental yield strengths and those predicted by a strength theory based on edge dislocations indicating that the observed compositional effects are due to their effects on shear modulus and volume misfit. Fracture occurred by dimpled rupture with fracture strains of 19.4%–25.7%, but uniform strains were an order of magnitude lower at 1.1%–3.2%, calling into question the useable ductility (prior to necking) of RHEAs considered to be ductile based on their fracture strain. Contrary to predictions in the literature that HCP elements promote ductility, our present results show that increasing the HCP:BCC ratio decreases both the total strain and the uniform strain. Similar trends were not evident in the yield or ultimate strengths; rather, strengths were affected mainly by shear modulus and volume misfit.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":331,"journal":{"name":"Intermetallics","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 108923"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144721924","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}