LAUSR

Abstract A novel approach of surface hardening treatment by aerosol deposition (AD) process was utilized on Fe40(CoCrMnNi)60 medium entropy alloy (MEA). Severe plastic deformation was successfully applied by AD treatment in the near-surface area of the specimens. Accordingly, cross-section analysis of microstructure revealed a gradient structure profile along with the depth from the top surface with the applied AD treatment. The near-surface area exhibited a high number of dislocation densities up to 1.32 × 1015 m−2 leading to a significant hardness improvement of up to 74% compared to the untreated specimen. The present work discovered the feasibility of the AD process as a suitable option of surface hardening treatment methods in improving the mechanical properties through microstructural evolution.