Alloy design strategies and future trends in high-entropy alloys

Abstract

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are newly emerging advanced materials. In contrast to conventional alloys, HEAs contain multiple principal elements, often five or more in equimolar or near-equimolar ratios. The basic principle behind HEAs is that solid-solution phases are relatively stabilized by their significantly high entropy of mixing compared to intermetallic compounds, especially at high temperatures. This makes them feasibly synthesized, processed, analyzed, and manipulated, and as well provides many opportunities for us. There are huge numbers of possible compositions and combinations of properties in the HEA field. Wise alloy design strategies for suitable compositions and processes to fit the requirements for either academic studies or industrial applications thus become especially important. In this article, four core effects were emphasized, several misconceptions on HEAs were clarified, and several routes for future HEA research and development were suggested. © 2013 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.