Superplasticity of high-entropy alloys: a review

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are a new class of engineering materials with unique mechanical and functional properties. Superplastic forming of HEAs might be a viable route for actual applications of these alloys. Accordingly, the superplastic behaviors of HEAs and medium-entropy alloys (MEAs) were summarized in this monograph, along with reviewing the basics of high-entropy alloys and fine-grained superplasticity. Moreover, the HEAs were introduced and the phase formation rules were discussed. Furthermore, the influences of grain refinement (by thermomechanical processing and severe plastic deformation (SPD) methods) and deformation conditions (temperature and strain rate) with special attention to the high strain rate superplasticity were summarized. The significance of thermal stability of the microstructure against grain coarsening was noticed, where the effects of multi-phase microstructure, formation of pinning particles, and favorable effects of the addition of alloying elements were explained. The effects of deformation temperature and strain rate on the thermally activated grain boundary sliding (GBS), precipitation of secondary phases (especially the Cr-rich σ phase), dissolution of phases, deformation-induced (dynamic) grain growth, partial melting, and dynamic recrystallization (DRX) were discussed for different HEAs and MEAs. The final part of this overview article is dedicated to the future prospects and research directions.