Bimetal printing of high entropy alloy/metallic glass by laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

As metallic materials with distinctive microstructures and properties, high entropy alloys (HEAs) and metallic glasses (MGs) have their respective advantages. In this study, using laser powder bed (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM), bimetal printing between a typical quinary HEA (CoCrFeMnNi) and an Fe-based MG has been realized, which inherits properties of both materials. As a result, the bulk material consisting of both alloys presents a significantly high hardness (from ∼251 HV to ∼1210 HV) and corrosion resistance (from ∼0.967 mm/year to ∼0.765 mm/year) resulted from the printed MG and a good combination of strength and ductility resulted from the printed HEA. Analytical means including transmission electron microscopy and electron back-scattered diffraction have been used to detail the microstructure, particularly the HEA/MG interface that is essential to forming a good interlocking bonding. The study demonstrates the capability of LPBF bimetal printing in developing advanced materials particularly having HEAs and MGs involved.