Research on hot cracking in laser welding of Al-contaminated CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloys

To study the thermal cracking susceptibility of laser-welded CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloys, stainless steel and aluminum alloy plates were each used as backing for welding. The microstructure of the weld and morphology of the fracture were examined. In addition, the chemical compositions of the fractures, the interfacial tension between the CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy and liquid aluminum alloy, and the linear expansion coefficient of the CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy were determined. The results show that when stainless steel is used as the base plate, no cracking is apparent in the weld, and the microstructure is made up of dendrites and equiaxed crystals. Conversely, when an aluminum alloy plate is adopted, solidification cracks are seen at the center of the weld, and the microstructure consists of bright polygonal dendrites scattered in a dark gray matrix. In the later stage of solidification, the contact angle between the Al-dominated low-melt liquid metal and the CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy is about 14.6°, which is distributed in the form of a liquid film between the dendrite of the CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy weld, and the linear expansion coefficient of the high-entropy alloy is 23 × 10^-6-25 × 10^-6 K^-1 in the temperature range of 900-1100 K, which is higher than the thermal expansion coefficient of austenitic stainless steel in this range, and the solidification temperature range is 1000-1400K. Therefore, thermal cracks tend to occur during the solidification process.