Enhancing the properties of HEAs-ceramic composites using SPS technique

Centre for Nanoengineering and Advanced Materials, School of Mining, Metallurgy and Chemical Engineering, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

^* Corresponding author: chikau@uj.ac.za

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the properties of High Entropy Alloy (HEA)-ceramic composites produced with spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. HEAs are alloys consisting of five or more principal elements. They possess excellent mechanical, thermal, wear and corrosion properties as a result of their configurational characteristic effects. However, these properties usually attenuate at elevated temperatures. So, incorporating ceramic reinforcements enhances those unique properties at elevated thermal and mechanical stresses. SPS, a non-conventional sintering technique, offers unique properties to composite materials more than the conventional techniques. It prevents grain growth and evolution of deleterious intermetallic compounds and promotes rapid densification with strong interfacial bonding. The study systematically reviews HEA-ceramic composites developed with SPS, their properties, strengthening mechanisms, and property tailoring strategies. It also analyses how SPS parameters impact on the properties of the composites. Results show that SPS is a sustainable consolidation method, which can produce HEA-ceramic composites with superior properties suitable for demanding applications in energy, aerospace and biomedical sectors. The review highlights the novelty of incorporating ceramics into HEAs using SPS technique. It concludes by recommending optimization of material design and development strategies for next-generation robust materials.