February 2026 Volume 8

MATERIALS

THE STATUS AND OUTLOOK FOR FORGING OF HIGH-ENTROPY ALLOY (HEA) ENGINEERED PRODUCTS FOR AEROSPACE, MEDICAL, AND ENERGY SECTOR APPLICATIONS By Terry C. Lowe, Ph.D., Dr.h.c.

Executive Summary High-Entropy Alloys (HEAs) represent a revolutionary class of metallic materials that are generating significant interest in aerospace, defense, medical, and energy sectors. Unlike traditional alloys built around a single base metal, HEAs contain five or more principal elements in near-equal proportions, creating unique microstructures with exceptional properties. While much research has focused on discovering new HEA compositions, the critical challenge lies in fabricating these alloys into reliable, defect-free components. This article examines how forging technology is emerging as a superior manufacturing route for HEAs, overcoming the defects commonly associated with casting and additive manufacturing. We review the current status of HEA forging technology, explore applications across key industrial sectors, and provide guidance to help the forging industry prepare for this promising class of materials. What are HEAs and Why They Matter High-Entropy Alloys are fundamentally different from the alloys forging professionals have worked with for decades. Traditional alloys, whether steel, aluminum, or titanium, are built around a single principal element with small additions of other elements to enhance specific properties. HEAs break this paradigm by combining five or more principal elements in equal or near-equal atomic percentages (typically 5-35 at.%), such as the TiHfZrNbAl alloy shown in Figure 1 1 . The name “high-entropy” refers to the high configurational entropy that stabilizes these multi-element systems into simple solid solution phases (typically face-centered cubic or body centered cubic structures) rather than forming complex, brittle intermetallic compounds 2 . This unique characteristic gives HEAs a remarkable combination of properties that are attracting intense interest from demanding industries: • Exceptional strength at both room and elevated temperatures • Outstanding wear resistance for tooling and die applications • Superior corrosion resistance in harsh chemical environments • Excellent high-temperature stability for aerospace and energy applications • Promising biocompatibility for medical implants 3, 4

Figure 1: High-entropy alloys, such as the 250 gram TiHfZrNbAl ingot shown above, exhibit unique microstructures with the principal elements forming solid solutions. Photo courtesy of Colorado School of Mines doctoral student Mason Weems. As Queen City Forge has noted in their pioneering work with the Center for Advanced Non-Ferrous Structural Alloys on HEA tooling, these materials offer “the unique ability to tailor specific properties, such as wear resistance and corrosion resistance, for specific industrial applications” 5 . The forging industry is particularly well-positioned to capitalize on HEAs because many target applications—turbine disks, structural aerospace components, medical implants, and energy sector parts—require the dense, defect-free microstructures that forging can deliver. The global HEA market is projected to grow from $1.05 billion in 2024 to $2.47 billion by 2033, with aerospace and defense applications driving much of this growth 6 . For forging companies, understanding HEA processing now will be critical to capturing opportunities in this emerging market.

FIA MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2026 29