高熵合金中非金属夹杂物控制的研究进展

Control of nonmetallic inclusions in high-entropy alloys

  • 摘要: 高熵合金因其具有优越的机械性能(较高的屈服及抗拉强度、抗氧化和耐腐蚀性能),可被广泛应用于航空航天、核反应堆和化学加工等诸多领域. 目前高熵合金的制备主要依赖于高纯金属原料,这会导致高熵合金的制造成本升高,限制其未来的工业化应用. 通过文献调研发现,绝大部分高熵合金纯净化的研究基于真空感应熔炼制备高纯净度镍基合金,而对制备高熵合金的相关研究却十分匮乏. 镍基合金和CoCrFeMnNi高熵合金成分有很大区别,两种合金的杂质元素去除的热力学和动力学规律也不尽相同,因此很有必要进行高纯净度高熵合金制备的基础研究. 制备高熵合金的高纯金属原料中仍含有少量的杂质元素(碳、氧、硫、氮和铝等),这些杂质元素的存在会导致高熵合金中非金属夹杂物的生成. 高纯金属原料中杂质元素、精炼渣、耐火材料以及制备方法对高熵合金中非金属夹杂物的生成和转变均产生重要影响. 但是由于缺乏上述杂质元素在高熵合金熔体中的热力学参数,导致研究高熵合金中杂质元素的去除、夹杂物的生成和转变机理较为困难. 本文总结了高熵合金纯净度和力学性能及抗腐蚀性能的关系,这为高纯净度高熵合金的制备提供理论指导.

     

    Abstract: High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have garnered considerable attention in recent years owing to their exceptional mechanical properties, including high yields and ultimate strength as well as remarkable resistance to oxidation and corrosion. These properties make them suitable for various engineering applications, particularly in demanding environments such as aerospace, nuclear reactors, and chemical processing industries. The typical composition of HEAs, which typically consist of five or more principal elements in near-equimolar ratios, results in a high configurational entropy (usually >1.5R) that stabilizes the solid-solution phase. Consequently, their performance is superior to that of traditional low-entropy alloys, i.e., low-alloy steels, stainless steels, and nickel-based superalloys. However, despite their promising potential, the widespread industrialization of HEAs is limited by their high manufacturing costs. Currently, HEA production primarily relies on the use of pure metal elements, which are expensive and limit the scalability of these materials. Existing fundamental studies have been mainly focused on the preparation of high-purity nickel-based alloys by vacuum induction melting (VIM). By contrast, preparation of high-purity HEAs has been rarely attempted because of the fundamental differences between the thermodynamic and kinetic behaviors of impurity removal from nickel-based alloys and HEAs; thus, detailed investigations are required to understand the optimal process parameters for producing high-purity HEAs. One of the critical issues in HEA preparation is the presence of impurity elements, even in high-purity metal raw materials. Impurity elements, such as carbon, oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, and aluminum, are inevitably introduced into HEAs, forming nonmetallic inclusions, which can degrade the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance the HEAs. Notably, in addition to high-purity metal materials, impurities can be generated from diverse sources, such as refining slags, refractory materials used in the melting process, and specific preparation methods. The interactions between these impurities and the HEA melt are complex, and thus, investigating the mechanisms of impurity removal and the formation and transformation of inclusions in HEAs is a challenging task. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, studies on controlling impurity elements during the preparation of HEAs by VIM are scarce. With the aim to address these challenges, this paper presents a comprehensive review on existed literature and experimental data, which can provide insights on the mechanisms by which impurity elements and nonmetallic inclusions affect the performance of HEAs. The findings can offer theoretical guidance for preparing high-purity HEAs in the future, highlighting the importance of controlling impurity levels and optimizing the refining process. Ultimately, this study is expected to contribute to the development of more cost-effective and scalable methods for producing HEAs, paving the way for their broader application in high-performance engineering fields. The insights gained from this study advance our fundamental understanding of HEAs, and practical recommendations for overcoming the current limitations in their production are provided to facilitate their transition from laboratory-scale research to industrial-scale manufacturing.

     

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