Tensile deformation behavior of a lightweight AlZnCu medium-entropy alloy

Applying the medium-entropy alloy (MEA) concept to Al alloys is considered a promising approach to enhance their strength. However, the deformable Al-based MEA under tensile stress has not been reported due to the presence of a substantial amount of intermetallic compounds. Herein, we designed a novel AlZnCu MEA system and tailored its microstructure using high-pressure torsion, resulting in a meaningful tensile ductility of ∼4.3% coupled with considerable tensile strength of ∼462.5 MPa. The well-balanced tensile properties of the AlZnCu MEA stem from the nano-lamellar structure arising from phase separation and dispersion of discontinuous intermetallic compounds induced by the high-pressure torsion process.