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Concept
High-entropy alloy
Summary
High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are alloys that are formed by mixing equal or relatively large proportions of (usually) five or more elements. Prior to the synthesis of these substances, typical metal alloys comprised one or two major components with smaller amounts of other elements. For example, additional elements can be added to iron to improve its properties, thereby creating an iron-based alloy, but typically in fairly low proportions, such as the proportions of carbon, manganese, and others in various steels. Hence, high-entropy alloys are a novel class of materials. The term "high-entropy alloys" was coined by Taiwanese scientist Jien-Wei Yeh because the entropy increase of mixing is substantially higher when there is a larger number of elements in the mix, and their proportions are more nearly equal. Some alternative names, such as multi-component alloys, compositionally complex alloys and multi-principal-element alloys are also suggested by other researchers.
These alloys are currently the focus of significant attention in materials science and engineering because they have potentially desirable properties.
Furthermore, research indicates that some HEAs have considerably better strength-to-weight ratios, with a higher degree of fracture resistance, tensile strength, and corrosion and oxidation resistance than conventional alloys. Although HEAs have been studied since the 1980s, research substantially accelerated in the 2010s.
Although HEAs were considered from a theoretical standpoint as early as 1981 and 1996, and throughout the 1980s, in 1995 Taiwanese scientist Jien-Wei Yeh came up with his idea for ways of actually creating high-entropy alloys, while driving through the Hsinchu, Taiwan, countryside. Soon after, he decided to begin creating these special alloys in his lab, being in the only region researching these alloys for over a decade. Most countries in Europe, the United States, and other parts of the world lagged behind in the development of HEAs.
Official source
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