Prolonged martensitic transformation induced by heterogeneous deformation in a heterostructured metastable high-entropy alloy

Kejie Lu; Xinkai Ma; Yuntian Zhu

doi:10.1016/j.scriptamat.2025.116912

Prolonged martensitic transformation induced by heterogeneous deformation in a heterostructured metastable high-entropy alloy

Kejie Lu
, Xinkai Ma^*
, Yuntian Zhu

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report prolonged martensitic transformation in heterostructured metastable high-entropy alloy composed of non-recrystallized (NRX) and recrystallized ultrafine-grained (UFG) zones. This distinctive transformation behavior is attributed to heterogeneous deformation inherent in heterostructures. The high stress concentrations at the hetero-zone boundaries facilitate preferential nucleation and stable evolution of martensite within the NRX zones. This process accommodates stress localization and establishes a pronounced strain gradient between the NRX and UFG zones. Additionally, the activation of shear bands, driven by the high dislocation density in the UFG zones, initiates and extends the martensitic transformation to higher strain levels. As a result, this prolonged martensitic transformation significantly extends high work-hardening into high applied strains, thereby producing an excellent strength-ductility combination. © 2025 Acta Materialia Inc.

Original language	English
Article number	116912
Number of pages	6
Journal	Scripta Materialia
Volume	269
Online published	6 Aug 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2025.116912
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2025

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2021YFA1200202), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52201142 ), the Sichuan Province Science and Technology Program (No. 2025YFHZ0230 ), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2682024GF014 ). The authors are also grateful to the Analytical and Testing Center of Southwest Jiaotong University for TEM characterization.

Research Keywords

Heterogeneous deformation
Heterostructure
Martensitic transformation
Metastable high-entropy alloy
Shear bands

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COPYRIGHT TERMS OF DEPOSITED POSTPRINT FILE: © 2025. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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title = "Prolonged martensitic transformation induced by heterogeneous deformation in a heterostructured metastable high-entropy alloy",

abstract = "We report prolonged martensitic transformation in heterostructured metastable high-entropy alloy composed of non-recrystallized (NRX) and recrystallized ultrafine-grained (UFG) zones. This distinctive transformation behavior is attributed to heterogeneous deformation inherent in heterostructures. The high stress concentrations at the hetero-zone boundaries facilitate preferential nucleation and stable evolution of martensite within the NRX zones. This process accommodates stress localization and establishes a pronounced strain gradient between the NRX and UFG zones. Additionally, the activation of shear bands, driven by the high dislocation density in the UFG zones, initiates and extends the martensitic transformation to higher strain levels. As a result, this prolonged martensitic transformation significantly extends high work-hardening into high applied strains, thereby producing an excellent strength-ductility combination. {\textcopyright} 2025 Acta Materialia Inc.",

keywords = "Heterogeneous deformation, Heterostructure, Martensitic transformation, Metastable high-entropy alloy, Shear bands",

author = "Kejie Lu and Xinkai Ma and Yuntian Zhu",

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doi = "10.1016/j.scriptamat.2025.116912",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Prolonged martensitic transformation induced by heterogeneous deformation in a heterostructured metastable high-entropy alloy

AU - Lu, Kejie

AU - Ma, Xinkai

AU - Zhu, Yuntian

PY - 2025/12/1

Y1 - 2025/12/1

N2 - We report prolonged martensitic transformation in heterostructured metastable high-entropy alloy composed of non-recrystallized (NRX) and recrystallized ultrafine-grained (UFG) zones. This distinctive transformation behavior is attributed to heterogeneous deformation inherent in heterostructures. The high stress concentrations at the hetero-zone boundaries facilitate preferential nucleation and stable evolution of martensite within the NRX zones. This process accommodates stress localization and establishes a pronounced strain gradient between the NRX and UFG zones. Additionally, the activation of shear bands, driven by the high dislocation density in the UFG zones, initiates and extends the martensitic transformation to higher strain levels. As a result, this prolonged martensitic transformation significantly extends high work-hardening into high applied strains, thereby producing an excellent strength-ductility combination. © 2025 Acta Materialia Inc.

AB - We report prolonged martensitic transformation in heterostructured metastable high-entropy alloy composed of non-recrystallized (NRX) and recrystallized ultrafine-grained (UFG) zones. This distinctive transformation behavior is attributed to heterogeneous deformation inherent in heterostructures. The high stress concentrations at the hetero-zone boundaries facilitate preferential nucleation and stable evolution of martensite within the NRX zones. This process accommodates stress localization and establishes a pronounced strain gradient between the NRX and UFG zones. Additionally, the activation of shear bands, driven by the high dislocation density in the UFG zones, initiates and extends the martensitic transformation to higher strain levels. As a result, this prolonged martensitic transformation significantly extends high work-hardening into high applied strains, thereby producing an excellent strength-ductility combination. © 2025 Acta Materialia Inc.

KW - Heterogeneous deformation

KW - Heterostructure

KW - Martensitic transformation

KW - Metastable high-entropy alloy

KW - Shear bands

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105012393044

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U2 - 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2025.116912

DO - 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2025.116912

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 1359-6462

VL - 269

JO - Scripta Materialia

JF - Scripta Materialia

M1 - 116912

ER -

Prolonged martensitic transformation induced by heterogeneous deformation in a heterostructured metastable high-entropy alloy

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Research Keywords

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