Structure evolution in the Cu-Fe system during mechanical alloying

High-resolution electron microscopy was used to examine the structure evolution of Cu-60 at % Fe powder mixture during mechanical alloying. Fracture and refinement of particles, the lamellar structure formed by cold-welding, and nanocrystals, were all observed at atomic scale. The X-ray diffraction patterns show that the Bragg peaks from the b c c phase decrease obviously in intensity after 3 h milling and entirely disappear after 5 h milling. Lattice images of the products obtained after 3 h milling reveal that there are Nishiyama-Wasserman orientation relationships between the b c c and f c c phases, i.e. (001)//(110), [1 0]//[1 2] and [110]//[ 11] . It is likely that for a mechanically alloyed iron-rich powder mixture, ball milling induces a reverse martensitic transformation of b c c Fe(Cu) to f c c Fe(Cu) phase. The greatly extended f c c phase range is closely related to this transformation. After 5 h milling, nanocrystals with sizes about 10 nm are formed.     

Structural changes during mechanical alloying of elemental aluminium and molybdenum powders

Mechanical alloying of elemental aluminium and molybdenum powders was performed by conventional low-energy ball milling. Seven compositions (Al-3, 10, 17, 20, 27, 50 and 75 at% Mo), as well as elemental aluminium and molybdenum powders, were milled up to 1000 h. The structural changes during milling were followed by X-ray diffraction. In all cases milling produced refinement of the microstructure, and prepared powders were microcrystalline with grain sizes of the order of nanometres. A supersaturated solid solution of molybdenum in aluminium was formed. Only for the Al-75 at% Mo powders was a solution of aluminium in molybdenum observed. On leave from Institute of Technical sciences of Serbian Academy of sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Yugoslavia.     

Amorphization and nanocrystalline Nb3Al intermetallic formation during mechanical alloying and subsequent annealing

In this paper the formation as well as the stability of Nb₃Al intermetallic compounds from pure Nb and Al metallic powders through mechanical alloying (MA) and subsequent annealing were studied. According to this method, the mixture of powders with the proportion of Nb-25 at% Al were milled under an argon gas atmosphere in a high-energy planetary ball mill, at 7, 14, 27 and 41 h, to fabricate disordered nanocrystalline Nb₃Al. The solid solution phase transitions of MA powders before and after annealing were characterized using X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The microstructural analysis was performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) as well as transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that in the early stages of milling, Nb(Al) solid solution was formed with a nanocrystalline structure that is transformed into the amorphous structure by further milling times. Amorphization would appear if the milling time was as long as 27 h. Partially ordered Nb₃Al intermetallic could be synthesized by annealing treatment at 850 °C for 7 h at lower milling times. The size of the crystallites after subsequent annealing was kept around 45 nm.     

Mill setting and microstructural evolution during mechanical alloying of Mg2Si

The mechanical alloying behaviour of magnesium and silicon to form the intermetallic compound Mg₂Si and the optimum setting of a planetary ball mill for this task, were examined. For the ductile–brittle magnesium–silicon system it was found that the efficiency of the mill is mostly influenced by the ratio of the angular velocity of the planetary wheel to that of the system wheel and the amount of load. The examination of the kinetics inside the planetary ball mill for different mill settings showed that a ratio of angular velocities of at least 3 is necessary to compensate the reduction of efficiency due to slip. The optimum powder load for the 500 ml vial was found to be 10–20 g. The milling process starts with elemental magnesium and silicon bulk particles. During the milling, the silicon pieces are rapidly diminished and together with the constantly forming Mg₂Si they act as an emery powder for the magnesium bulk pieces. Simultaneous to the diminution of the magnesium, alloying occurs.     

Synthesis of Mg-Ti alloy by mechanical alloying

Mg-based Mg-Ti binary alloys have been synthesized by mechanical alloying of Mg and Ti powder blends. It was found that mechanical alloying of Mg and Ti results in a nanocrystalline Mg-Ti alloy and an extended solubility of Ti in Mg, due to the favorable size factor and the isomorphous structure of Mg and Ti. In the case of Mg-20at.%Ti, about 12.5% Ti is dissolved in the Mg lattice when the mechanical alloying process reaches a stable state. The rest (about 7.5 at.%) remains as fine particles in the size of 50–150 nm in diameter. Dissolution of 12.5 at.% Ti in the Mg lattice causes a contraction of the unit cell volume from 0.0464 to 0.0442 nm³ and a decrease of the c/a ratio from 1.624 to 1.612 of the hexagonal structure. The supersaturated solid solution Mg-Ti alloy decomposes upon thermal annealing at temperatures above 200°C. Hydrogenation enhances the decomposition process at lower temperatures.     

Phase transformations and microstructural evolution of nanocrystalline Ti-18Zr-5Nb-3Sn-4Ta powders through mechanical alloying

ABSTRACT

The aims of the present study are to determine the possibility of obtaining a new, nanocrystalline Ti-18Zr-5Nb-3Sn-4Ta at.-% alloy by a ball milling method, and to observe the influence of various milling times on phase composition and structure of the obtained material. The X-ray diffraction results confirmed the alloy synthesis and revealed the presence of α- and β-Ti phases. The Rietveld refinement showed that the production method and the atomic radii of the elements used in the mechanical synthesis have influence on the structure. Scanning electron microscopy observation leads to the conclusion that the powder particles and the degree of aggregation change with increasing milling time.

This paper is part of a Thematic Issue on The Crystallographic Aspects of Metallic Alloys.     

Microstructural,thermal, and radiation shielding properties of Al50B25Mg25 alloy prepared by mechanical alloying

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - Aluminum, boron, and magnesium are one of the most common aerospace infrastructure materials. Therefore it is important to know their...     

Ti-22Al-23Nb-1Mo-1Zr合金环锻件组织演变及力学行为EI北大核心CSCD

以五元系Ti_(2)AlNb合金Ti-22Al-23Nb-1Mo-1Zr(原子分数/%)环锻件为研究对象,借助扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)和力学性能检测设备,研究合金在不同固溶温度(850,880,900℃)+750℃时效处理工艺下的组织演变、拉伸性能及断裂行为。结果表明:固溶处理后,随固溶温度的增加,细片层O相易固溶于B2相基体中,粗片层O相逐渐粗化,O相体积分数下降;后经时效处理后,有少量细片层O相从B2相基体中析出,粗片层O相进一步粗化,O相体积分数趋于一致;合金强度随固溶温度增加呈下降趋势,而塑性呈上升趋势;拉伸断口形貌为典型解理和韧窝混合断裂的准解理特征,纵向断口存在微裂纹、滑移特征以及沿拉伸方向伸长的弯曲片层O相;位错在B2/O相界塞积,片层O相尺寸细小,能够有效减小位错滑移距离,使得合金强化作用较强。     

Evolution of the structure and mechanical properties of a FeNi alloy during annealing after megaplastic deformation

Evolution of the structure and mechanical properties of a FeNi alloy annealed after megaplastic deformation (MPD) at room temperature in the Bridgman chamber has been studied by the transmission electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction, and microhardness measurement techniques. It is established that the primary recrystallization process during annealing is accompanied by growth of the recrystallized grains formed at the preliminary MPD stage. At the same time, the deformation fragments cannot grow because of the extremely low mobility of their boundaries.

     

Formation of intermetallic phases during mechanical alloying and annealing of Cr + 20 wt % al mixtures

We have studied phase-formation processes in mixtures of Cr and Al (20 wt %) powders in the course of mechanical alloying (MA) and the phase transformations of the samples during subsequent annealing at temperatures of up to 800°C. The resultant x-ray amorphous intermetallic phases were identified by a differential dissolution method, which allows one to follow the formation of x-ray amorphous and partially crystallized phases. During MA of Cr + Al mixtures, the first to form is x-ray amorphous Cr₄Al, which then converts to partially crystallized Cr₂Al through reaction with aluminum. The peritectoid decomposition of Cr₄Al during heating of the MA samples is accompanied by heat release at 330–350°C. Heating to 420°C leads to the formation of Cr₅Al₈. At 800°C, Cr₅Al₈ reacts with Cr to form Cr₂Al.     

Phase transformations of Ni-15 wt.% B powders during mechanical alloying and annealing

The formation of Ni-B binary intermetallic compounds was investigated by mechanical alloying (MA) of the Ni-15 wt.% B (≈ Ni-48 at.% B) powder mixture and subsequent heat treatment. It was found that an interstitial Ni(B) solid solution was formed at the early stage of milling, followed by the formation of Ni₃B intermetallic compound after 25 h of milling. On further milling, the Ni₃B transformed to Ni₂B and o-Ni₄B₃ (orthorhombic). Phase transformation during heating of Ni(B) solid solution phase up to 800 °C could be represented by Ni(B) → Ni₃B → Ni₂B. Other intermetallics can be formed by heat treatment of Ni(B) solid solution at temperatures above 800 °C.     

Grain morphology and texture evolution of TC21 titanium alloy during annealing with different time

A homogeneous equiaxed‐structure TC21 titanium alloy is hot rolled and annealed for different time ranging from 1 h to 6 h. The grain morphology and texture evolution of α and β phases during annealing are mainly investigated using the electron back‐scattered diffraction characterization. In the early annealing stage, the α grain mainly maintains the elongated morphology generated in the rolling. With increasing annealing time, more and more elongated α grains become equiaxed due to enhanced static recrystallization and boundary splitting. Differently, the β grain exhibits a fully equiaxed morphology all the time due to the sufficient static recrystallization, and get a coarsening with increasing annealing time. The α phase exhibits a (0001) basal texture in the early annealing stage, and then forms a TD‐split texture with increasing annealing time. The β phase exhibits the {001}<110> texture at every annealing time. Based on the analysis about the texture of different grain sizes, the effects of recrystallization nucleation and oriented growth on texture evolution are discussed. It suggests that TD‐split texture in α phase is originated from both the recrystallization nucleation and oriented growth. The formation of {001}<110> texture in β phase is mainly originated from the oriented growth.     

机械合金化合成Fe-Ni-C系非晶态合金

用机械合金化方法合成了Fe—Ni—C系非晶态合金,用X射线衍射仪对球磨不同时间的Fe—Ni—C系混合粉末进行了分析．结果表明：在Fe—Ni合金中加入C可促使其形成非晶;原子分数分别为Fe40Ni40C20、Fe60Ni20C20的混合粉末在一定的机械合金化条件下可获得非晶．     

Microstructure,texture evolution and mechanical properties of cold rolled Ti-32.5Nb-6.8Zr-2.7Sn biomedical beta titanium alloy

Ti-32.5 Nb-6.8 Zr-2.7 Sn(TNZS,wt%) alloy was produced by using vacuum arc melting method,followed by solution treatment and cold rolling with the area reductions of 50% and 90%.The effects of cold rolling on the microstructure,texture evolution and mechanical properties of the experimental alloy were investigated by optical microscopy,X-ray diffraction,transmission electron microscopy and universal material testing machine.The results showed that the grains of the alloy were elongated along rolling direction and stress-induced α' martensite was not detected in the deformed samples.The plastic deformation mechanisms of the alloy were related to {112} 111 type deformation twinning and dislocation slipping.Meanwhile,the transition from γ-fiber texture to α-fiber texture took place during cold rolling and a dominant {001} 110_(α-fiber) texture was obtained after 90% cold deformation.With the increase of cold deformation degree,the strength increased owing to the increase of microstrain,dislocation density and grain refinement,and the elastic modulus decreased owing to the increase of dislocation density as well as an enhanced intensity of {001} 110_(α-fiber)texture and a weakened intensity of {111} 112_(γ-fiber)texture.The 90% cold rolled alloy exhibited a great potential to become a new candidate for biomedical applications,since it possesses low elastic modulus(47.1 GPa),moderate strength(883 MPa) and high elastic admissible strain(1.87%),which are superior than those of Ti-6 Al-4 V alloy.     

Structural and microstructural characterizations of nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite synthesized by mechanical alloying

Single phase nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite (HAp) powder has been synthesized by mechanical alloying the stoichiometric mixture of CaCO₃ and CaHPO₄ powders in open air at room temperature, for the first time, within 2 h of milling. Nanocrystalline hexagonal single crystals are obtained by sintering of 2 h milled sample at 500 °C. Structural and microstructural properties of as-milled and sintered powders are revealed from both the X-ray line profile analysis and transmission electron microscopy. Shape and lattice strain of nanocrystalline HAp particles are found to be anisotropic in nature. Particle size of HAp powder remains almost invariant up to 10 h of milling and there is no significant growth of nanocrystalline HAp particles after sintering at 500 °C for 3 h. Changes in lattice volume and some primary bond lengths of as-milled and sintered are critically measured, which indicate that lattice imperfections introduced into the HAp lattice during ball milling have been reduced partially after sintering the powder at elevated temperatures. We could achieve ~ 96.7% of theoretical density of HAp within 3 h by sintering the pellet of nanocrystalline powder at a lower temperature of 1000 °C. Vickers microhardness (VHN) of the uni-axially pressed (6.86 MPa) pellet of nanocrystalline HAp is 4.5 GPa at 100 gm load which is close to the VHN of bulk HAp sintered at higher temperature. The strain-hardening index (n) of the sintered pellet is found to be > 2, indicating a further increase in microhardness value at higher load.     

Hot consolidation and mechanical properties of nanocrystalline equiatomic AlFeTiCrZnCu high entropy alloy after mechanical alloying

The present study is aimed to investigate the consolidation behaviour and mechanical properties of nanocrystalline equiatomic AlFeTiCrZnCu high entropy alloy after mechanical alloying. The consolidation was achieved by cold pressing with conventional sintering, vacuum hot pressing and hot isostatic pressing techniques. The microstructure and mechanical properties were evaluated. The hardness and compressive strength of nanocrystalline equiatomic AlFeTiCrZnCu high entropy alloy after vacuum hot pressing are 9.50 and 2.19 GPa and those after hot isostatic pressing are 10.04 and 2.83 GPa, respectively. The wear resistance is found to be higher than the commercially used materials such as Ni-hard faced alloy.