CALPHAD assessment of the Cr-Fe-Mo-Ti system for the development of high entropy alloys.
Résumé
Searching for a suitable replacement for cobalt-based alloyssuch as Stellite 6 [1], which
is used in wear-resistant coatings for nuclear applications, high entropy alloys, or more
accurately complex concentrated alloys (CCA), have shown some promising properties [2].
Alloying elements where chosen considering the chemical composition of the substrate to
ensure chemical and mechanical compatibility. In our case, this is 316L stainless steel, which
is the most used material in valves and control rods. CCA coatings should provide wear and
corrosion resistance between room temperature and 400°C for long time cycles. Based on
these considerations and previous works [3], we selected the Cr-Fe-Mo-Ti system.
Our work aims to develop new alloys using an iterative methodology. It consists in
creating a robust database using the CALPHAD (Calculation of phase diagrams) method to
predict thermodynamic properties. Then we will perform solidification and equilibrium
calculations of different alloys compositions. High-quality database requires reliable data,
which will be obtained from the combination of electronic structures calculations by DFT
(Density Functional Theory) method with our own experimental work. Using this tool, we will
design coatings alloys using additive manufacturing techniques according to favourable
microstructures. Finally, tribology and corrosion tests will be performed on these samples.
In this presentation, we will focus on CALPHAD modelling. We will discuss constitutive
binary systems adopted from the literature, and we will assess constitutive ternaries.