Mechanical alloying of Fe–Ni based nanostructured magnetic materials

Abstract

Alloys with the composition Fe 40Ni 38B 18Mo 4, Fe 49Ni 46Mo 5 and Fe 42Ni 40B 18 were processed from elemental powders by mechanical alloying and the microstructure was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. Nanocrystalline fcc solid solution was achieved as a result of mechanical alloying in all three alloy compositions and the grain size reduced to nanoscale but lattice strain was introduced. Molybdenum was found to affect the products of mechanical alloying, specifically, the Fe 3B phase formed in the Fe 42Ni 40B 18 alloy while no boride phase formed in the Fe 40Ni 38B 18Mo 4 alloy. SEM studies indicated that the presence of boron was found to make the milling process easier. Elemental mapping by SEM as well as XRD results showed that molybdenum does not dissolve easily in the Fe–Ni solid solution produced by milling. The DSC results suggested that an amorphous structure together with nanocrystals was obtained in the Fe 40Ni 38B 18Mo 4 and Fe 42Ni 40B 18 alloys. A two-stage crystallization process was found in the Fe 40Ni 38B 18Mo 4 and Fe 42Ni 40B 18 alloys, the presence of boron was found to make amorphization easier. TEM investigations were consistent with these XRD and DSC results. Heat-treated samples of the Fe 40Ni 38B 18Mo 4 and Fe 42Ni 40B 18 alloys milled for 100 h showed that molybdenum inhibited the grain growth. The saturation magnetization of the heat-treated Fe 40Ni 38B 18Mo 4 alloy milled for 100 h was stable, coercivity was reduced; on the other hand, the M s of heat-treated Fe 42Ni 40B 18 alloy milled for 100 h decreased and the H c increased. This difference in magnetic behavior is due to the alloying addition of molybdenum which affected the microstructural evolution during heat treatment, specifically by inhibition of the increase in grain size.