Production-Oriented Feasibility Analysis Of Electrochemical Deposition Of High Entropy Alloy For Moulding And Tooling Applications

Abstract

High entropy alloys (HEA) offer an attractive combination of mechanical, thermal and chemical properties for demanding tooling and moulding applications however, their integration into manufacturing remains limited by processing complexity and cost. Electrochemical deposition (ECD) provides an athermal and energy efficient route for producing multi-element alloy layers with minimal thermal load on the substrate, making it particularly suitable for precision tooling applications. In this study, a production-oriented investigation of ECD of a 6-element HEA system (CoCuFeMoWNi) from an aqueous electrolyte is presented. The influence of key process parameters, including current density, pulse conditions, temperature and electrolyte pH was investigated to identify a suitable process window enabling uniform HEA deposition. Surface morphology, elemental distribution and configurational entropy were evaluated to assess deposition quality and HEA formation. A maximum configurational entropy of approximately 1.5 R was achieved using the suitable ECD process window. Building on these results, the feasibility of electrochemical layered manufacturing of HEAs is demonstrated through a proof-of-concept deposition inside a pre-machined STAVAX® steel mould cavity, achieving a deposited thickness of 112 μm. The results demonstrate the potential of ECD as a manufacturing-relevant technique for HEA surface coatings, repair and tolerance correction in precision moulding and tooling applications.