Effect of Mechanical Alloying on the Microstructure of CoCrNiTiMox High Entropy Alloy

The present research focuses on synthesizing nanocrystalline CoCrNiTiMox (x: molar ratio; x = 1, 1.5 at.%, respectively) high entropy alloy by mechanical alloying of pure metal powders for further application as feedstock in the atmospheric plasma spray process. The paper describes the phase evolution and microstructural transformation of milled powders with respect to the ball milling time and speed. A Retsch PM 100 ball mill with a ball to powder ratio of 10:1 and speeds of 200 and 300 rpm are used to synthesize the feedstock powder for plasma spraying. The ball milled powders were assessed for particle size, phase transformation and surface morphologies at regular intervals of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 h to optimize the ball mill process parameters. The particle morphology and chemical homogeneity studies were done by scanning electron microscope along with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The influence of Mo variation in the CoCrNiTiMox high entropy alloy in phase formation and crystal structure is studied using the x-ray diffraction technique. The results reveal that the CoCrNiTiMox high entropy alloy possesses two BCC solid solution phases and the powder milled for 10 h is selected as the feedstock powder for plasma spray due to its morphology and good homogeneity of mixing.