Research Progress of High-Entropy Alloys in the Reactive Damage Field

As a novel reactive damage material, high-entropy alloys (HEAs) have garnered widespread attention in the field of reactive damage in recent years due to their excellent mechanical properties and favorable energy release characteristics. Not only do HEAs possess high strength, high hardness, outstanding plasticity, and energy release capabilities, but their material compositions and performance parameters are also tailorable, enabling them to meet the material requirements of various application scenarios. Furthermore, HEAs have demonstrated potential application advantages in several aspects, such as processing and forming, mechanical strength, and impact-induced energy release. In particular, Ti-Zr-based systems have become a research hotspot due to their penetration-energy release coupling effect, and a growing body of experimental results has confirmed the application potential of HEAs in the field of reactive damage. Currently, reactive high-entropy alloys hold broad application prospects in areas such as projectile casings, reactive fragments, shaped charge liners, and armor-piercing projectiles. This paper introduces the definition and characteristics of reactive high-entropy alloys, summarizes existing reactive HEA systems, and reviews the current research status regarding the dynamic mechanical behavior and impact-induced energy release characteristics of reactive HEAs. It also outlines the potential application fields of HEAs and provides a preliminary outlook on the future directions of high-entropy alloys in the reactive damage domain.