Microstructure, mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance of L21 phase-strengthened laser cladding CrFeNiTixAl1-x high-entropy alloy coatings

In this study, CrFeNiTixAl1-x (x=0.3, 0.7 in mole ratio) high-entropy alloy coatings (referred to as Ti0.3Al0.7, Ti0.7Al0.3 alloy coating, respectively) were prepared on AlSI1045 steel using the laser cladding (LC) method by adjusting the Al and Ti element contents. The phase constitutions, microstructures, mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance of the prepared coatings were comprehensively investigated and compared. Both Ti0.3Al0.7 and Ti0.7Al0.3 coatings exhibited rich Fe-Cr disordered BCC phase (A2) and NiAl ordered BCC phase (B2). The L21 phase in the Ti0.7Al0.3 coating accounted for as much as 47.7 % when the Ti content was 0.7. The elevated Ti content significantly refined the internal structure of the coating, reducing the average grain size from 7.495 μm to 2.281 μm. With the combined effect of grain refinement and obstruction of dislocation motion by large angle grain boundaries, the microhardness of the Ti0.7Al0.3 alloy coatings increased from 685.12 HV0.2 to 867.20 HV0.2 compared to Ti0.3Al0.7. The precipitation strengthening effect of the noncoherent hard L21 phase, along with the protective role of the TiO2 oxide film, resulted in the lowest friction coefficient of 0.171 for Ti0.7Al0.3. Ti0.7Al0.3 exhibits the dominant wear mechanisms of abrasive and oxidative wear. Meanwhile, these coatings also exhibited excellent resistance to Cl- corrosion, with corrosion potentials shifted to −0.52 V and −0.46 V for Ti0.3Al0.7 and Ti0.7Al0.3, and corrosion current densities decreased to 1.26 × 10−6 A/cm2 and 4.35 × 10−7 A/cm2, respectively. These findings suggest that the replacement of equimolar Al with equimolar Ti in the CrFeNiTiAl high-entropy alloy compositions is a meaningful phenomenon that offers new perspectives for the design of novel high-performance HEAs. •Ti is more likely to be enriched with Ni and Al to form Ni2TiAl type L21 phase.•The high Ti content contributes to the formation of L21 phase and results in significant grain refinement.•Ti0.7Al0.3 demonstrates exceptional wear resistance due to grain refinement and the precipitation of the L21 phase.•The TiO2 passivation film exhibits superior protection to the Al2O3 passivation film in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution.