Damascus-style hierarchical microstructures enable a strong and ductile medium-entropy alloy.

ABSTRACT: Traditional metal alloys require energy-intensive processes to manage atomic complexity for improved strength and toughness, with stringent control over impurities and processing conditions. High-/medium-entropy alloys (HEAs/MEAs) offer a sustainable alternative by introducing atomic complexity with fewer constraints, enabling unique phase transitions. Here, a Cu-Au-Ag MEA is fabricated using vacuum suspension melting followed by heat treatment. The alloy exhibits three distinct levels of heterogeneous structures: micron-scale phase separation, nano-ordered L1₂ phase, and chemical short-range order (CSRO). It demonstrates tensile and compressive strengths of 550 MPa and 1700 MPa for the micropillar sample, respectively, with 25% tensile elongation and over 50% compressive strain

SUBMITTER: Tang S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12578991 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature