Evaluation of the Corrosion, Microstructural and Mechanical Characteristics of Cu-Al-Zn-Sn High Entropy Alloys

In a search for solutions to minimize the problem of aluminium cookware leaching, pitting, wear and cracking off due to thermal stress, high entropy alloys (HEAs) have become profitable materials. Cu-Al-Zn-Sn HEAs were produced, ad properties compared with that of the existing aluminium cookware material. The ASTM G102 standard was followed to investigate the corrosion rate (CR) of these materials in 3.65 wt.% NaCl (potentiodynamic polarization technique). Following ASTM A-370 standard, Vickers hardness (VH) of the materials were examined using a nanoindenter. The CETR reciprocating sliding tribometer was used to investigate the wear rate (WR) in line with ASTM G99 procedure. With the aid of a thermo-gravimetric analyzer, the MTS (maximum temperature of stability) of the materials was examined. The microstructural analysis of the materials was conducted using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). For the existing aluminium cookware material sample, the CR, VH, WR and MTS of the were 0.9327 mm year-1, 56.25 mN mm-2, 1.888 × 10-5 mm3 N-1 m-1 and 610 °C, respectively. For the HEA samples, the CR, VH, WR and MTS ranged from 0.1708-0.4080 mm/year, 159.99-398.18 mN mm-2, 1.565 × 10-5-1.944 × 10-5 mm3 N-1 m-1 and 680-690 oC, respectively. The microstructural examination of the HEA samples revealed the existence of better morphology, higher texture quality and enhanced microstructural homogeneity compared to the aluminium (Al) sample. The dendrites observed on the HEA samples on the surface are indications that the samples exhibited superior mechanical properties, and could be employed for advanced applications. Key words: Corrosion; Wear; Thermo-gravimetric; Wear; Microstructure; Temperature