Effect of molybdenum and niobium on the phase formation and hardness of nanocrystalline CoCrFeNi high entropy alloys

In the present study, influence of molybdenum and niobium additions on phase formation during mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering of CoCrFeNi high entropy alloy was studied. Major FCC and minor BCC phase were observed after mechanical alloying of CoCrFeNi. However, major FCC and sigma phase were observed after spark plasma sintering. A maximum relative density of 95% was obtained with the hardness of 570 HV in CoCrFeNi HEA. The phase formation behavior was not significantly affected by the addition of molybdenum or niobium. However, addition of Mo to CoCrFeNi increased the hardness from 570 HV to 620 HV and the hardness increased to 710 HV with combined addition of molybdenum and niobium. After sintering, major FCC phase with crystallite size of 60–70 nm was observed in all the compositions. Further, the microstructure and hardness retention was observed in CoCrFeNiMo0.2 with annealing temperature up to 800°C