Interesting ‘island-like’ microstructure and tribological evaluation of Al1.5CrFeNiWTi0.5 high entropy alloy coating manufactured by laser cladding

Al1.5CrFeNiWTi0.5 high entropy alloy coating with interesting ‘island-like’ microstructure containing BCC and Laves phases was designed and produced on Q235 steel by laser cladding. Its hardness was 880 HV, which was about 6.4 times that of substrate. The tribological properties of Q235 steel substrate were greatly improved by Al1.5CrFeNiWTi0.5 coating, which had the lowest friction coefficient (0.26) and wear rate (5.15 ×10−7 mm3/(N·m)) in deionized water. This was mainly attributed to the hydrolysis and oxidation reactions of coating surface material. The reaction products could improve bearing capacity and isolate the direct contact of coating and coupled ball effectively, resulting in a decrease of firction and wear. The Al1.5CrFeNiWTi0.5 coating would become a promising choice of wear-resisting material under water-lubricated environment.