Understanding microscale deformation in multicomponent Alloys

Traditional materials processing involves the alteration of properties through the addition of a few percent of secondary alloying elements. However, in the past two decades, a novel class of materials combining multiple principal elements in relatively high concentrations have been shown to possess greatly improved material properties as compared to conventional materials such as low or negative stacking fault energies and self-healing capabilities. Therefore, a well-informed understanding of HEAs is therefore essential for the widespread adoption of HEAs in engineering applications.

Recently developed techniques such as high energy diffraction microscopy (HEDM) enables the non-destructive 3D characterization of micro-scale properties of metallic alloys. Currently, a general lack of accurate crystal-scale data for multicomponent alloys has led to an insufficient understanding of their process-structure-property relationships. Therefore, we employ high energy x-ray techniques and crystal plasticity models to help unlock key information on the material response and microstructure evolution of multicomponent alloys during in-situ loading.