An experimental study of thermophysical properties for quinary high-entropy NiFeCoCrCu/Al alloys

Two quinary high-entropy alloys (HEAs) with equiatomic concentrations formed by doping either Cu or Al elements into the quaternary NiFeCoCr alloy are produced by arc melting and spray casting techniques. Their entropy of fusion, thermal expansion coefficient and thermal diffusivity are experimentally investigated with differential scanning calorimetry, dilatometry and laser flash methods. The NiFeCoCrCu HEAs contain a facecentered cubic high-entropy phase plus a minor interdendritic (Cu) phase and display a lower entropy of fusion and the Vickers hardness. The NiFeCoCrAl HEAs consist of two body-centered cubic high-entropy phases with coarse dendritic structures and show higher entropy of fusion and the Vickers hardness. Both the thermal expansion coefficient and the thermal diffusivity of the former Cu-doped alloy are significantly larger than those of the latter Al-doped alloy. Although the temperature dependence of thermal diffusivity is similar for both HEAs, it is peculiar that the thermal expansion curve of the NiFeCoCrAl alloy exhibits an inflexion at temperatures of 860-912 K.