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Overview of High-Entropy Alloys

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High-Entropy Alloys

Abstract

Alloys have evolved from simple to complex compositions depending on the ability of mankind to develop the materials. The resulting improved functions and performances of alloys enable advancements in civilizations. In the last century, significant evolution and progress have led to the invention of special alloys, such as stainless steels, high-speed steels, and superalloys. Although alloys composed of multiple elements have higher mixing entropy than pure metals, the improved properties are mostly due to mixing enthalpy that allows the addition of suitable alloying elements to increase the strength and improve physical and/or chemical properties. Since the turn of the century, more complex compositions with higher mixing entropies have been introduced. Such complex compositions do not necessarily guarantee a complex structure and microstructure, or the accompanied brittleness. Conversely, significantly higher mixing entropy from complex compositions could simplify the structure and microstructure and impart attractive properties to the alloys. Jien-Wei Yeh and Brian Cantor independently announced the feasibility of high-entropy alloys and equi-atomic multicomponent alloys in reports published in 2004. This breakthrough in alloying concepts has accelerated research on these new materials throughout the world over the last decade.

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Acknowledgment

J.W.Y. sincerely thanks Professors Ranganathan and Cantor for their great contributions from the beginning of high-entropy alloys era and also thanks four colleagues, Professors Su-Jien Lin, Swe-Kai Chen, Tsung-Shune Chin, and Han C. Shih for their continued research and contributions on high-entropy alloys. J.W.Y. would like to acknowledge the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Economic Affairs, and National Tsing Hua University, R.O.C., for their financial supports through different projects of high-entropy alloys. He also thanks Dr. Chun-Ming Lin for the collections and statistical analyses of papers on high-entropy alloys.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, 30013, Republic of China

    Jien-Wei Yeh

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  1. Jien-Wei Yeh
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Correspondence to Jien-Wei Yeh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Energy Technology, Laboratory & AECOM, Albany, Oregon, USA

    Michael C. Gao

  2. Department of Materials Science and Eng, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Jien-Wei Yeh

  3. Department of Materials Science and Eng, The University of Tennessee, KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, USA

    Peter K. Liaw

  4. State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metal, University of Science and Technology, Beijing, China

    Yong Zhang

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Yeh, JW. (2016). Overview of High-Entropy Alloys. In: Gao, M., Yeh, JW., Liaw, P., Zhang, Y. (eds) High-Entropy Alloys. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27013-5_1

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