6. Balance sheet

6.1 Strengths and special features

High entropy alloys (HEA) are multi-component alloys in which each element is highly concentrated. The distinction between majority and minority elements is therefore no longer valid. AHEs can be single-phase, i.e. form a single crystalline solid solution in which each element is highly concentrated, or multi-phase, i.e. be composed of a solid solution, similar to that of single-phase AHEs, and secondary phase(s). AHEs offer several advantages:

• solid solutions are thermodynamically stable at high temperatures;

• they can be produced by conventional metallurgical processes, so industrial quantities are possible;

• their mechanical properties...