Progress of high entropy alloys

High entropy alloy breaks through the limitation of traditional alloy composition, rendering a great possibility to constitute alloys by using the entropic conceptions. It provides a novel way for the development of new materials, which usually exhibits excellent mechanical and functional properties, such as high strength, high toughness, high hardness, exceptionally excellent low temperature toughness, excellent corrosion resistance, and radiation resistance, showing the great application potential in many fields. Up to now, three typical high entropy alloys have been developed: Cantor alloy (CoCrFeNiMn) which mainly composed of 3d transitional elements; Senkov alloy (NbMoTaW), mainly contains refractory elements; Lightweight and low density high entropy alloys (AlMgLiZnCu, AlMgZnCuSi, AlZrTiNbMo). Based on the concept of high-entropy-alloy, the processing of high entropy alloys was introduced in detail, and how to prepare the high entropy alloys with the excellent combination performance (high strength‒high toughness, excellent magnetism‒ mechanical properties, and high strength‒high electrical conductivity) was discussed. Finally, the development trend of high entropy alloys in the future was prospected.