Improved mechanical and corrosion properties of CrMnFeCoNi high entropy alloy with cold rolling and post deformation annealing process

Highlights: • Twinning intersection is found during the microstructure evolution of CrMnFeCoNi HEA. • Slip plane and direction of the alloy are {111} and < 110 > , respectively. • CR-PDA process improves the comprehensive mechanical and corrosion properties of the alloy. -- Abstract: The effects of cold rolling and post deformation annealing (CR‐PDA) process on the comprehensive mechanical and corrosion properties of CrMnFeCoNi high entropy alloy (HEA) were investigated. The results indicate that the grain size was obviously refined from 207.5 µm to 4.6 µm. Moreover, the microhardness, yield strength and ultimate tensile strength increased by 28%, 68% and 24%, respectively. However, the elongation decreased from 59.3% to 43.8%. The strengthening mechanisms are mainly fine grain and dislocation density strengthening. Furthermore, the corrosion potential increased and the corrosion current density decreased after the CR-PDA process, indicating that the corrosion resistance of the alloy was improved, possibly because of the grain refinement and residual compressive stress. In conclusion, the CR-PDA process improves the comprehensive mechanical and corrosion properties of CrMnFeCoNi HEA.