The tensile creep behavior of an equiatomic CoCrFeNiMn high-entropy alloy was systematically investigated over an intermediate temperature range (500–600 °C) and applied stress (140–400 MPa). The alloy exhibited a stress-dependent transition from a low-stress region (LSR-region I) to a high-stress region (HSR-region II). The LSR was characterized by a stress exponent of 5 to 6 and an average activation energy of 268 kJ mol⁻¹, whereas the HSR showed much higher corresponding values of 8.9–14 and 380 kJ mol⁻¹. Microstructural examinations on the deformed samples revealed remarkable dynamic recrystallization at higher stress levels. Dislocation jogging and tangling configurations were frequently observed in LSR and HSR at 550 and 600 °C, respectively. Moreover, dynamic precipitates identified as M₂₃C₆ or a Cr-rich σ phase were formed along grain boundaries in HSR. The diffusion-compensated strain rate versus modulus-compensated stress data analysis implied that the creep deformation in both stress regions was dominated by stress-assisted dislocation climb controlled by lattice diffusion. Nevertheless, the abnormally high stress exponents in HSR were ascribed to the coordinative contributions of dynamic recrystallization and dynamic precipitation. Simultaneously, the barriers imposed by these precipitates and severe initial deformation were referred to so as to increase the activation energy for creep deformation.

The effects of Sm, Si and Ca on the microstructure and mechanical property of AZ91 magnesium alloy were investigated by means of optical microscopy (OM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and tensile testing. The results indicated that the addition of 1.5 wt.% Sm with or without 0.8 Si/Ca led to a decrease in the volume fraction of the β-Mg₁₇Al₁₂ phase and the formation of the intermetallic compounds of Al-Sm, Mg₂Si, MgAlCa and Al₂Ca. The microstructure of AZ91 alloy was significantly refined and distribution became discrete with additions of Sm and Ca; the average grain size of the α-Mg matrix was reduced from 239.7 ± 16.9 µm to 66.34 ± 5.10 µm. The AZ91-Sm-Ca alloy exhibited a good combination of yield strength at 135 MPa, ultimate tensile strength at 199 MPa and elongation at 4.32%, which was ascribed to grain refinement strengthening. Furthermore, the T6 treated AZ91-Sm-Ca alloy possessed yield strength of 154 MPa and elongation of 7.1%, which was due to grain refinement strengthening and reduction in discontinuous precipitates.

Multi-objective optimization has been increasingly applied in engineering where optimal decisions need to be made in the presence of trade-offs between two or more objectives. Minimizing the volume of shrinkage porosity, while reducing the secondary dendritic arm spacing of a wheel casting during low-pressure die casting (LPDC) process, was taken as an example of such problem. A commercial simulation software ProCAST^TM was applied to simulate the filling and solidification processes. Additionally, a program for integrating the optimization algorithm with numerical simulation was developed based on SiPESC. By setting pouring temperature and filling pressure as design variables, shrinkage porosity and secondary dendritic arm spacing as objective variables, the multi-objective optimization of minimum volume of shrinkage porosity and secondary dendritic arm spacing was achieved. The optimal combination of AZ91D wheel casting was: pouring temperature 689 °C and filling pressure 6.5 kPa. The predicted values decreased from 4.1% to 2.1% for shrinkage porosity, and 88.5 μm to 81.2 μm for the secondary dendritic arm spacing. The optimal results proved the feasibility of the developed program in multi-objective optimization.