Microstructure and Corrosion Properties of AlCoCrFeNi High Entropy Alloy Coatings Deposited on AISI 1045 Steel by the Electrospark Process

Electrospark deposition (ESD) was employed to clad the AlCoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) on AISI 1045 carbon steel. The relationship between the microstructure and corrosion properties of the HEA-coated specimens was studied and compared with that of the copper-molded cast HEA material. Two major microstructural differences were found between the cast HEA material and the HEA coatings. First, the cast material comprises both columnar and equiaxed crystals with a columnar-to-equiaxed transition (CET), whereas the HEA coatings consist of an entirely columnar crystal structure. The CET phenomenon was analyzed based on Hunt’s criterion. Second, unlike the cast HEA material, there was no obvious Cr-rich interdendritic segregation and nano-sized precipitate distributed within the dendrites of the HEA coating. With regard to corrosion properties, the corrosion current of the HEA-coated specimen was significantly lower than for the 1045 steel and the cast HEA material. This was attributed to the ESD specimen having a relatively high Cr oxide and Al oxide content at the surface. Moreover, for the ESD specimen, the absence of Cr-rich interdendritic phase and second-phase precipitation resulted in a relatively uniform corrosion attack, which is different from the severe galvanic corrosion attack that occurred in the cast specimen.