Mechanical Behavior of a Medium-Entropy Fe₆₅(CoNi)₂₅Cr_9.5C_0.5 Alloy Produced by Selective Laser Melting

Specimens of a medium-entropy Fe₆₅(CoNi)₂₅Cr_9.5C_0.5 (in at.%) alloy were produced using additive manufacturing (selective laser melting, SLM). The selected parameters of SLM resulted in a very high density in the specimens with a residual porosity of less than 0.5%. The structure and mechanical behavior of the alloy were studied under tension at room and cryogenic temperatures. The microstructure of the alloy produced by SLM comprised an elongated substructure, inside which cells with a size of ~300 nm were observed. The as-produced alloy demonstrated high yield strength and ultimate tensile strength (YS = 680 MPa; UTS = 1800 MPa) along with good ductility (tensile elongation = 26%) at a cryogenic temperature (77 K) that was associated with the development of transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) effect. At room temperature, the TRIP effect was less pronounced. Consequently, the alloy demonstrated lower strain hardening and a YS/UTS of 560/640 MPa. The deformation mechanisms of the alloy are discussed.