On the strength and fracture toughness of an additive manufactured CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy

Kumar, Punit; Michalek, Matthew; Cook, David H.; Sheng, Huang; Lau, Kwang B.; Wang, Pei; Zhang, Mingwei; Minor, Andrew M.; Ramamurty, Upadrasta; Ritchie, Robert O.

doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2023.119249

On the strength and fracture toughness of an additive manufactured CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy

Journal Article · Fri Aug 11 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Acta Materialia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2023.119249· OSTI ID:2475337

^[1]; ^[2]; Cook, David H. ^[1]; Sheng, Huang ^[3]; ^[4]; ^[4]; ^[1]; Minor, Andrew M. ^[1]; Ramamurty, Upadrasta ^[5]; ^[1]

University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Nanyang Technological Univ. (Singapore)
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) (Singapore)
Nanyang Technological Univ. (Singapore); Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) (Singapore)

An additively manufactured (nominally equiatomic) CrCoNi alloy was processed by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). At ambient temperatures (298 K), this medium-entropy alloy displayed a yield strength, σ_y of ~691 ± 9 MPa, and an ultimate tensile strength, σ_u of ~926 ± 15.2 MPa; at cryogenic temperatures (77 K), yield and tensile strengths increased respectively to σ_y ~ 944 ± 6 MPa and σ_u ~ 1382 ± 11 MPa. These strength levels are 57 and 44% higher than that of the wrought alloy, due to strengthening from the solidification cellular structures intertwined with dislocations in the LPBF CrCoNi. The crack-initiation fracture toughness, K_JIc was measured to be ~183.7 ± 28 MPa√m at 298 K; this value marginally decreased by ~4% to ~176 ± 11 MPa√m at 77 K. These K_JIc values of the LPBF CrCoNi were 11% and 35% lower than the wrought CrCoNi alloy at 298 K and 77 K, respectively. Here, the resistance to crack growth of the LPBF CrCoNi from its hierarchical micro- and meso-structures was evaluated using nonlinear-elastic fracture mechanics by measuring R-curve behavior in the form of the J-integral as a function of crack extension. The specific features of the hierarchical microstructures at different length-scales provide a basis for the strengthening and toughening properties of this additively manufactured medium-entropy alloy. This correlation between the deformation and the hierarchical microstructures at different length-scales may provide future guidance for improving the fracture toughness properties of medium-entropy alloys.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 2475337

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1995611

Journal Information:: Acta Materialia, Journal Name: Acta Materialia Vol. 258; ISSN 1359-6454

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (49)

Theory of workhardening 1934-1984 Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf, Doris Metallurgical Transactions A, Vol. 16, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02670414	journal	December 1985
On macroscopic and microscopic analyses for crack initiation and crack growth toughness in ductile alloys Ritchie, R. O.; Thompson, A. W. Metallurgical Transactions A, Vol. 16, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02815305	journal	January 1985
Additive Manufacturing of Metal Cellular Structures: Design and Fabrication Yang, Li; Harrysson, Ola; Cormier, Denis JOM, Vol. 67, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-015-1322-y	journal	February 2015
Plane strain deformation near a crack tip in a power-law hardening material Rice, J. R.; Rosengren, G. F. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Vol. 16, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-5096(68)90013-6	journal	January 1968
Singular behaviour at the end of a tensile crack in a hardening material Hutchinson, J. W. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Vol. 16, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-5096(68)90014-8	journal	January 1968
The type of dislocation interaction as the factor determining work hardening Lavrentev, F. F. Materials Science and Engineering, Vol. 46, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0025-5416(80)90175-5	journal	December 1980
Simultaneous enhancements of strength and toughness in an Al-12Si alloy synthesized using selective laser melting Suryawanshi, Jyoti; Prashanth, K. G.; Scudino, S. Acta Materialia, Vol. 115 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2016.06.009	journal	August 2016
Strain hardening by dynamic slip band refinement in a high-Mn lightweight steel Welsch, E.; Ponge, D.; Hafez Haghighat, S. M. Acta Materialia, Vol. 116 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2016.06.037	journal	September 2016
Micro-and meso-structures and their influence on mechanical properties of selectively laser melted Ti-6Al-4V Kumar, Punit; Prakash, Om; Ramamurty, Upadrasta Acta Materialia, Vol. 154 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2018.05.044	journal	August 2018
New insights on cellular structures strengthening mechanisms and thermal stability of an austenitic stainless steel fabricated by laser powder-bed-fusion Voisin, Thomas; Forien, Jean-Baptiste; Perron, Aurelien Acta Materialia, Vol. 203 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2020.11.018	journal	January 2021
Fracture resistance of AlSi10Mg fabricated by laser powder bed fusion Paul, Moses J.; Liu, Qian; Best, James P. Acta Materialia, Vol. 211 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2021.116869	journal	June 2021
Fracture and fatigue in additively manufactured metals Becker, Thorsten Hermann; Kumar, Punit; Ramamurty, Upadrasta Acta Materialia, Vol. 219 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2021.117240	journal	October 2021
A micropillar compression investigation into the plastic flow properties of additively manufactured alloys Li, Shi-Hao; Zhao, Yakai; Radhakrishnan, Jayaraj Acta Materialia, Vol. 240 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2022.118290	journal	November 2022
Outstanding fracture toughness combines gigapascal yield strength in an N-doped heterostructured medium-entropy alloy Liu, Xiaoru; Zhang, Shengde; Feng, Hao Acta Materialia, Vol. 255 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2023.119079	journal	August 2023
Effect of cryo-deformation on structure and properties of CoCrFeNiMn high-entropy alloy Stepanov, N.; Tikhonovsky, M.; Yurchenko, N. Intermetallics, Vol. 59 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intermet.2014.12.004	journal	April 2015
Effect of temperature on the fatigue-crack growth behavior of the high-entropy alloy CrMnFeCoNi Thurston, Keli V. S.; Gludovatz, Bernd; Hohenwarter, Anton Intermetallics, Vol. 88 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intermet.2017.05.009	journal	September 2017
Effect of nitrogen on mechanical properties of CoCrFeMnNi high entropy alloy at room and cryogenic temperatures Klimova, M.; Shaysultanov, D.; Semenyuk, A. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Vol. 849 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2020.156633	journal	December 2020
Dislocation-twin interaction in medium entropy alloy containing a high density of oxygen interstitials Song, Yajing; Li, Tianxin; Fu, Xiaoqian Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Vol. 947 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2023.169522	journal	June 2023
Grain refinement and crack inhibition of hard-to-weld Inconel 738 alloy by altering the scanning strategy during selective laser melting Xu, Jiayu; Ding, Yutian; Gao, Yubi Materials & Design, Vol. 209 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2021.109940	journal	November 2021
Laser 3D printing of CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy Gao, Xiaoyu; Lu, Yunzhuo Materials Letters, Vol. 236 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2018.10.084	journal	February 2019
Dislocation network in additive manufactured steel breaks strength–ductility trade-off Liu, Leifeng; Ding, Qingqing; Zhong, Yuan Materials Today, Vol. 21, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2017.11.004	journal	May 2018
Interstitial doping enhances the strength-ductility synergy in a CoCrNi medium entropy alloy Moravcik, Igor; Hornik, Vit; Minárik, Peter Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 781 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2020.139242	journal	April 2020
Additively manufactured high strength and ductility CrCoNi medium entropy alloy with hierarchical microstructure Han, Bolun; Zhang, Chengcheng; Feng, Kai Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 820 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2021.141545	journal	July 2021
A comparative study of additive manufactured and wrought SS316L: Pre-existing dislocations and grain boundary characteristics Wei, Fengxia; Cheng, Baisong; Kumar, Punit Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 833 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2021.142546	journal	January 2022
Effect of initial dislocation density on the plastic deformation response of 316L stainless steel manufactured by directed energy deposition Li, Shi-Hao; Zhao, Yakai; Kumar, Punit Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 851 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2022.143591	journal	August 2022
Additive manufacturing of a metastable high entropy alloy: Metastability engineered microstructural control via process variable driven elemental segregation Agrawal, Priyanshi; Thapliyal, Saket; Agrawal, Priyanka Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol. 872 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2023.144938	journal	May 2023
Cascading of the as-built microstructure through heat treatment and its role on the tensile properties of laser powder bed fused Inconel 718 Jayaraj Radhakrishnan, R.; Kumar, Punit; Seet, Hang Li Materialia, Vol. 21 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtla.2021.101272	journal	March 2022
Friction stress and Hall-Petch relationship in CoCrNi equi-atomic medium entropy alloy processed by severe plastic deformation and subsequent annealing Yoshida, Shuhei; Bhattacharjee, Tilak; Bai, Yu Scripta Materialia, Vol. 134 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2017.02.042	journal	June 2017
Hierarchical microstructure and strengthening mechanisms of a CoCrFeNiMn high entropy alloy additively manufactured by selective laser melting Zhu, Z. G.; Nguyen, Q. B.; Ng, F. L. Scripta Materialia, Vol. 154 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2018.05.015	journal	September 2018
Strengthening and hardening mechanisms of additively manufactured stainless steels: The role of cell sizes Li, Zan; He, Bo; Guo, Qiang Scripta Materialia, Vol. 177 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2019.10.005	journal	March 2020
Yield strength increase of a CoCrNi medium entropy alloy by interstitial nitrogen doping at maintained ductility Moravcik, Igor; Hadraba, Hynek; Li, Linlin Scripta Materialia, Vol. 178 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2019.12.007	journal	March 2020
Fracture toughness of 304L austenitic stainless steel produced by laser powder bed fusion Kumar, Punit; Zhu, Zhiguang; Nai, Sharon M. L. Scripta Materialia, Vol. 202 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2021.114002	journal	September 2021
Mesostructure engineering in additive manufacturing of alloys Wei, Siyuan; Hutchinson, Christopher; Ramamurty, Upadrasta Scripta Materialia, Vol. 230 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2023.115429	journal	June 2023
Role of the solidification cells on the yield strength of the Al-Si-Mg alloy manufactured using laser powder bed fusion: A micropillar compression study Li, Shi-Hao; Zhao, Yakai; Ramamurty, Upadrasta Scripta Materialia, Vol. 234 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2023.115566	journal	September 2023
Exceptional damage-tolerance of a medium-entropy alloy CrCoNi at cryogenic temperatures Gludovatz, Bernd; Hohenwarter, Anton; Thurston, Keli V. S. Nature Communications, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10602	journal	February 2016
The conflicts between strength and toughness Ritchie, Robert O. Nature Materials, Vol. 10, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3115	journal	October 2011
Simultaneously enhanced strength and ductility for 3D-printed stainless steel 316L by selective laser melting Sun, Zhongji; Tan, Xipeng; Tor, Shu Beng NPG Asia Materials, Vol. 10, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41427-018-0018-5	journal	April 2018
Yield strength and misfit volumes of NiCoCr and implications for short-range-order Yin, Binglun; Yoshida, Shuhei; Tsuji, Nobuhiro Nature Communications, Vol. 11, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16083-1	journal	May 2020
The behaviour of stacking fault energy upon interstitial alloying Lee, Jee-Yong; Koo, Yang Mo; Lu, Song Scientific Reports, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-11328-4	journal	September 2017
Stacking Fault Energy Analyses of Additively Manufactured Stainless Steel 316L and CrCoNi Medium Entropy Alloy Using In Situ Neutron Diffraction Woo, W.; Jeong, J. S.; Kim, D. -K. Scientific Reports, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58273-3	journal	January 2020
The effect of grain size on fracture toughness Li, Wen-Lan; Li, J. C. M. Philosophical Magazine A, Vol. 59, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1080/01418618908221173	journal	June 1989
Directed energy deposition of metals: processing, microstructures, and mechanical properties Li, Shi-Hao; Kumar, Punit; Chandra, Shubham International Materials Reviews, Vol. 68, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1080/09506608.2022.2097411	journal	July 2022
A fracture-resistant high-entropy alloy for cryogenic applications Gludovatz, B.; Hohenwarter, A.; Catoor, D. Science, Vol. 345, Issue 6201 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1254581	journal	September 2014
Exceptional fracture toughness of CrCoNi-based medium- and high-entropy alloys at 20 kelvin Liu, Dong; Yu, Qin; Kabra, Saurabh Science, Vol. 378, Issue 6623 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abp8070	journal	December 2022
Fracture toughness of type 304 and 316 stainless steels and their welds Mills, W. J. International Materials Reviews, Vol. 42, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1179/imr.1997.42.2.45	journal	January 1997
Fracture properties of high-entropy alloys Gludovatz, Bernd; Ritchie, Robert O. MRS Bulletin, Vol. 47, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-022-00267-9	journal	February 2022
A Hall–Petch study of the high toughness Cr40Co30Ni30 multi-principal element alloy Puosso, Fernanda Cunha; Bertoli, Gustavo; Coury, Francisco Gil Journal of Materials Research, Vol. 38, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1557/s43578-022-00729-5	journal	October 2022
Impact of Chemical Fluctuations on Stacking Fault Energies of CrCoNi and CrMnFeCoNi High Entropy Alloys from First Principles Ikeda, Yuji; Körmann, Fritz; Tanaka, Isao Entropy, Vol. 20, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.3390/e20090655	journal	August 2018
Grain Structure Control of Additively Manufactured Metallic Materials Yan, Fuyao; Xiong, Wei; Faierson, Eric Materials, Vol. 10, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10111260	journal	November 2017