Phase Composition of a CrMo0.5NbTa0.5TiZr High Entropy Alloy: Comparison of Experimental and Simulated Data

Microstructure and phase composition of a CrMo0.5NbTa0.5TiZr high entropy alloy were studied in the as-solidified and heat treated conditions. In the as-solidified condition, the alloy consisted of two disordered BCC phases and an ordered cubic Laves phase. The BCC1 phase solidified in the form of dendrites enriched with Mo, Ta and Nb, and its volume fraction was 42%. The BCC2 and Laves phases solidified by the eutectic-type reaction, and their volume fractions were 27% and 31%, respectively. The BCC2 phase was enriched with Ti and Zr and the Laves phase was heavily enriched with Cr. After hot isostatic pressing at 1450 °C for 3 h, the BCC1 dendrites coagulated into round-shaped particles and their volume fraction increased to 67%. The volume fractions of the BCC2 and Laves phases decreased to 16% and 17%, respectively. After subsequent annealing at 1000 °C for 100 h, submicron-sized Laves particles precipitated inside the BCC1 phase, and the alloy consisted of 52% BCC1, 16% BCC2 and 32% Laves phases. Solidification and phase equilibrium simulations were conducted for the CrMo0.5NbTa0.5TiZr alloy using a thermodynamic database developed by CompuTherm LLC. Some discrepancies were found between the calculated and experimental results and the reasons for these discrepancies were discussed.