Ultrahigh intermediate-temperature strength and good tensile plasticity in chemically complex intermetallic alloys via lamellar architectures

As a newly emerged class of materials, chemically complex intermetallic alloys (CCIMAs) with exceptional thermal and mechanical properties are a promising candidate for high-temperature structural use. However, serious intergranular embrittlement at intermediate temperatures (600∼800 °C) is frequently found in those CCIMAs, obstructing their large-scale engineering applications. In this study, through deliberately tailoring thermomechanical processing, we designed a lamellar-structured (LS) L1₂-type Co-Ni-Al-Ti-Ta-Nb-B-based CCIMA that effectively overcomes this critical issue. The LS-CCIMA exhibits an excellent yield strength (YS) of ∼1.0 GPa with a large tensile elongation of ∼17% at room temperature. More prominently, it also presents an anomalous YS of ∼1.2 GPa combined with an acceptable tensile elongation of ∼10% at intermediate temperatures ranging from 600 to 800 °C, outperforming those of many other simple ordered intermetallics and conventional superalloys. Such superb immediate-temperature strengths primarily originate from the high anti-phase boundary energy caused by the addition of multiple alloying elements (Ti, Ta, and Nb) and the pile-ups of geometrically necessary dislocations. Moreover, we attribute the acceptable tensile plasticity to the increased plastic deformation capacities from the activation of various deformation-induced substructures (e.g., dislocation pairs at 600 °C and superlattice intrinsic stacking faults at 800 °C) and the inhibiting mechanisms of the lamellar structures on oxygen-induced grain boundary damage and microcrack's propagation. This work provides a new pathway for the innovative design of strong-yet-ductile heat-resistant CCIMAs. © 2023 Acta Materialia Inc.