Kinking induced plasticity in a novel refractory high-entropy alloy

A novel Ti₄₁V₂₇Hf₁₃Nb₁₃Zr₆ refractory high-entropy alloy (RHEA) with an excellent fracture elongation of 30 % at a high strength level of 986 MPa was successfully fabricated. We discovered that kinking induced plasticity, involving successive stages of dislocation arrangement, pre-kinking, and the coalescence of multiple kink bands. The soft character of kinking originated from the degraded dislocation density within the kink bands. As such, the interplay between strain hardening caused by dislocation accumulation and the softening effect due to kink bands led to a plateau-type engineering stress-strain curve to large strains. These findings provide a novel design pathway to achieve ductile RHEAs via deformation kinking.