Solid State Interaction in Ni-Mo-B System During Mechanical Alloying and Annealing

This work presents the results of a study of Ni_87?x Mo _x B₁₃ alloys (x?=?7, 10 and 14?at.%), which were obtained by mechanical alloying (MA) of elemental powder mixtures in a MAPF-2M high-energy planetary ball mill. The x-ray diffraction analysis and differential scanning calorimetry measurements were used. The single-phase fcc solid solutions of Mo and B in Ni were formed by MA of Ni-Mo-B mixtures of various compositions for 6-8?h. The coherent domain sizes of solid solutions calculated from the x-ray peak widths were 12-14?nm. The exothermic effects on the DSC curves, which corresponded to the phase transformations of supersaturated Ni(Mo,B) solid solutions, were observed during heating of the synthesized alloys. After heating to 700?°C, the alloys contained a fcc Ni(Mo) phase and a metastable hexagonal MoB₄ phase. Thermodynamically stable phase composition of Ni₈₀Mo₇B₁₃ and Ni₇₇Mo₁₀B₁₃ alloys, containing three phases: fcc Ni (Mo), Ni₂₁Mo₂B₆ with cubic lattice and Ni₃B with orthorhombic lattice, was reached after the isothermal annealing at 1000?°C. The ratio between the amounts of these phases in the alloys corresponds to their location in a three-phase area of the Ni-Mo-B equilibrium phase diagram.