Abstract
Al–Al12(Fe,V)3Si nanocrystalline alloy was fabricated by mechanical alloying (MA) of Al–11.6Fe–1.3V–2.3Si (wt.%) powder mixture followed by a suitable subsequent annealing process. Structural changes of powder particles during the MA were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Microstructure of powder particles were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) was used to study thermal behavior of the as-milled product. A thermodynamic analysis of the process was performed using the extended Miedema model. This analysis showed that in the Al–11.6Fe–1.3V–2.3Si powder mixture, the thermodynamic driving force for solid solution formation is greater than that for amorphous phase formation. XRD results showed that no intermetallic phase is formed by MA alone. Microstructure of the powder after 60h of MA consisted of a nanostructured Al-based solid solution, with a crystallite size of 19nm. After annealing of the as-milled powder at 550°C for 30min, the Al12(Fe,V)3Si intermetallic phase precipitated in the Al matrix. The final alloy obtained by MA and subsequent annealing had a crystallite size of 49nm and showed a high microhardness value of 249HV which is higher than that reported for similar alloy obtained by melt spinning and subsequent milling.
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