The FeCoNiCrMo0.5Alx system with x up to 2.13 was analyzed from the point of view of evolution of the phase composition and microstructure. Cast samples were synthesized by induction melting and analyzed by X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Vickers microhardness test methods. Phase compositions of these alloys in dependance on Al concentration consist of FCC solid solution, σ-phase, NiAl-based B2 phase, and BCC solid solution enriched with Mo and Cr. Phase formation principles were studied. Al dissolves in a FeCoNiCrMo0.5 FCC solid solution up to 8 at.%.; at higher concentrations, Al attracts Ni, removing it from FCC solid solution and forming the B2 phase. Despite Al not participating in σ-phase formation, an increase in Al concentration to about 20 at.% leads to a growth in the σ-phase fraction. The increase in the σ-phase was caused by an increase in the amount of B2 because the solubility of σ-forming Mo and Cr in B2 was less than that in the FCC solution. A further increase in Al concentration led to an excess of Mo and Cr in the solution, which formed a disordered BCC solid solution. The hardness of the alloys attained the maximum of 630 HV at 22 and 32 at.% Al.

In the present study, powder of FeCoCrNiMo0.5Al1.3 HEA was manufactured by gas atomization process, and then used for laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and microplasma spraying (MPS) technologies. The processes of phase composition and microstructure transformation during above mentioned processes and subsequent heat treatment were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and differential thermal analysis (DTA) methods. It was found that gas atomization leads to a formation of dendrites of body centered cubic (BCC) supersaturated solid solution with insignificant Mo-rich segregations on the peripheries of the dendrites. Annealing leads to an increase of element segregations till to decomposition of the BCC solid solution and formation of σ-phase and B2 phase. Microstructure and phase composition of L-PBF sample are very similar to those of the powder. The MPS coating has a little fraction of face centered cubic (FCC) phase because of Al oxidation during spraying and formation of regions depleted in Al, in which FCC structure becomes more stable. Maximum hardness (950 HV) is achieved in the powder and L-PBF samples after annealing at 600 °C. Elastic modulus of the L-PBF sample, determined by nanoindentation, is 165 GPa, that is 12% lower than that of the cast alloy (186 GPa).