Composition Design and Tensile Properties of Additive Manufactured Low Density Hf-Nb-Ta-Ti-Zr High Entropy Alloys Based on Atomic Simulations

High-entropy alloy (HEA) is a new type of multi-principal alloy material and the Hf-Nb-Ta-Ti-Zr HEAs have attracted more and more attention from researchers due to their high melting point, special plasticity, and excellent corrosion resistance. In this paper, in order to reduce the density of the alloy and maintain the strength of the Hf-Nb-Ta-Ti-Zr HEAs, the effects of high-density elements Hf and Ta on the properties of HEAs were explored for the first time based on molecular dynamics simulations. A low-density and high-strength Hf(0.25)NbTa(0.25)TiZr HEA suitable for laser melting deposition was designed and formed. Studies have shown that the decrease in the proportion of Ta element reduces the strength of HEA, while the decrease in Hf element increases the strength of HEA. The simultaneous decrease in the ratio of Hf and Ta elements reduces the elastic modulus and strength of HEA and leads to the coarsening of the alloy microstructure. The application of laser melting deposition (LMD) technology refines the grains and effectively solves the coarsening problem. Compared with the as-cast state, the as-deposited Hf(0.25)NbTa(0.25)TiZr HEA obtained by LMD forming has obvious grain refinement (from 300 μm to 20–80 μm). At the same time, compared with the as-cast Hf(0.25)NbTa(0.25)TiZr HEA (σ(s) = 730 ± 23 MPa), the as-deposited Hf(0.25)NbTa(0.25)TiZr HEA has higher strength (σ(s) = 925 ± 9 MPa), which is similar to the as-cast equiatomic ratio HfNbTaTiZr HEA (σ(s) = 970 ± 15 MPa).