Effects of Nb Additions and Heat Treatments on the Microstructure, Hardness and Wear Resistance of CuNiCrSiCoTiNb High-Entropy Alloys.

In this research, a set of CuNiCrSiCoTi (H-0Nb), CuNiCrSiCoTiNb (H-0.5Nb) and CuNiCrSiCoTiNb (H-1Nb) high-entropy alloys (HEAs) were melted in a vacuum induction furnace. The effects of Nb additions on the microstructure, hardness, and wear behavior of these HEAs (compared with a CuBe commercial alloy) in the as-cast (AC) condition, and after solution (SHT) and aging (AT) heat treatments, were investigated using X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, and electron microscopy.