Development of a novel light weight Al35Cr14Mg6Ti35V10 high entropy alloy using mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering

Abstract A new light-weight high entropy alloy (LWHEA) composition Al35Cr14Mg6Ti35V10 is designed using the thermodynamic parameters of stability with a density of 4.05 g cm−3. The alloy was prepared by mechanical alloying (MA) using a high-energy planetary ball milling and compacted by using spark plasma sintering (SPS). X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and hardness testing were used for analysis of the ball-milled powders and bulk sample. After 30h of milling a single-phase BCC was obtained with some minor impurities of WC. After SPS, the final microstructure was having one HCP and two BCC phases with minor contamination of WC embedded into it. The hardness of a light-weight Al35Cr14Mg6Ti35V10 alloy was found to be 460 HV which is superior to other Al, Mg, and Ti-based conventional alloys.