• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.126-131
• /
• 2018

In the present study, we investigate the effects of milling time and the addition of a process control agent (PCA) on the austenite stability of a nanocrystalline Fe-7%Mn alloy by XRD analysis and micrograph observation. Nanocrystalline Fe-7%Mn alloys samples are successfully fabricated by spark plasma sintering. The crystallite size of ball-milled powder and the volume fraction of austenite in the sintered sample are calculated using XRD analysis. Changes in the shape and structure of alloyed powder according to milling conditions are observed through FE-SEM. It is found that the crystallite size is reduced with increasing milling time and amount of PCA addition due to the variation in the balance between the cold-welding and fracturing processes. As a result, the austenite stability increased, resulting in an exceptionally high volume fraction of austenite retained at room temperature.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.130-135
• /
• 2010

Sm-16.7wt%Co alloy powders were prepared by high energy ball milling under the conditions of various milling time and the content of process control agent (PCA), and their microstructure and magnetic properties were investigated to establish optimum processing conditions. The initial powders employed showed irregular shape and had a size ranging from 5 to $110\;{\mu}m$. After milling for 5 h, the shape of powders changed to round shape and their mean powder size was approximately $5\;{\mu}m$, which consisted of the agglomerated nano-sized particles with 15 nm in diameter. The coercivity was reduced with increasing the milling time, whereas the saturation magnetization increased. As the content of PCA increased, the powder size minutely decreased to approximately $7\;{\mu}m$ at the PCA content of 10 wt%. The XRD patterns showed that the main diffraction peaks disappeared apparently after milling, indicating the formation of amorphous structure. The measured values of coercivity were almost unchanged with increasing the content of PCA.

• Advances in materials Research
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.245-255
• /
• 2017

High energy ball milling is employed to produce iron matrix- multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) reinforced composite. The damage caused to MWCNT due to harsh ball milling condition and its influence on interfacial bonding is studied. Different amount of MWCNT is used to find the optimal percentage of MWCNT for avoidance of the formation of chemical reaction product at the matrix - reinforcement interface. Effect of process control agent is assessed by the use of different materials for the purpose. It is observed that ethanol as a process control agent (PCA) causes degradation of MWCNT reinforcements after milling for two hours whereas solid stearic acid used as process control agent, allows satisfactory conservation of MWCNT structure. It is further noted that at a high MWCNT content (~ 2wt.%), high energy ball milling leads to reaction of iron and carbon and forms iron carbide (cementite) at the iron-MWCNT interface. At low percentage of MWCNT, dissolution of carbon in iron takes place and the amount of reinforcement in iron matrix composite becomes negligibly small. However, under the present ball milling condition (ball to metal ratio~ 6:1 and 200 rpm vial speed) iron-1wt.% MWCNT composite of good interfacial bonding can retain the tubular structure of reinforcing MWCNT.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.13 no.3 s.56
• /
• pp.178-186
• /
• 2006

The effect of use of $H_2O$ as PCA(process control agent) to prevent the carbon contamination during mechanical alloying process and the precipitation behavior in Ni-20Cr-20Fe-5Nb bulk alloy after aging were investigated. NbC and $Cr_2O_3$ were formed during mechanical alloying and consolidation processes in the Ni-20Cr-20Fe-5Nb alloy in which methanol($CH_3OH$) was added as PCA. Formation of NbC in this alloy decreased the amount of Nb dissolved in the Ni matrix. The use of $H_2O$ as PCA in Ni-20Cr-20Fe-5Nb alloy prevented the formation of NbC and increased the hardness. The increase of hardness in this alloy was attributed to the increased amount of Nb dissolved in the Ni matrix. After aging treatment for 20 hours at $600^{\circ}C\;and\;720^{\circ}C$ of Ni-20Cr-20Fe-5Nb bulk alloy in which $H_2O$ added as PCA, ${\gamma}"$$(Ni_3Nb,\;tetragonal)\;and\;{\delta}\;(Ni_3Nb,\;orthorhombic)$ precipitates were formed, respectively. The precipitation temperatures of ${\gamma}"$ and ${\delta}$ in this bulk alloy were lower than those in commercial IN 718 alloy. It seemed that the lower precipitation temperatures for ${\gamma}"$ and ${\delta}$ in this bulk alloy than in commercial IN 718 alloy were due to severe plastic deformation during mechanical alloying.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
• /
• v.19
• /
• pp.107-113
• /
• 1999

The microstructural evolution during mechanical alloying of elemental Fe and Si powders, average composition $Fe_{30}Si_{70}$ and $Fe_{50}Si_{50}$, has been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Mechanical alloying was performed by using a SPEX 8000 Mixer/Mill under argon atmosphere with/without hexane as a process control agent (PCA). In the presence of PCA, the milling process was dominated by fracture resulting in the decrease in particle size to about $1{\mu}m$. The structural development with milling time depended on the average composition of starting powders. The mixture of $Fe_{50}Si_{50}$ and $Fe_{30}Si_{70}$ resulted in the formation of FeSi(${\varepsilon}$ - phase) and $FeSi_2$(${\beta}$ - phase), respectively. In the case of $Fe_{33.3}Si_{66.7}$, a mixture and $FeSi_2({\beta})$ was formed. These results were discussed by considering the thermodynamics and kinetics concerning the milling process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
• /
• 2006.09a
• /
• pp.360-361
• /
• 2006

Nanostructured aluminum powders were obtained by means of planetary ball milling with methanol as the Process Control Agent (PCA). The behavior, during milling, was considered measuring the microhardness and grain size at different milling times. Bulk near-full density samples were sintered using the Spark Plasma Sintering technology with different schedules: temperature of $500^{\circ}C$ and $550^{\circ}C$, pressure of 30 MPa and 60 MPa and different modes of applying the pressure were changed in order to understand the behavior during sintering. All the samples retained their nanostructure with an increase of the grain size from about 46 up to 70-90 nm.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
• /
• 2006.09b
• /
• pp.975-976
• /
• 2006

The present paper is a parameter study of zinc flake production using a Simoloyer CM01 horizontal high energy rotary ball mill. The manufactured flakes have a dimension in thickness (t) < $1{\mu}m$ and diameters (d) 5-100 ${\mu}m$, consequently a ratio d/t up to 200. The flake geometry is mainly controlled by the variation of process parameters such as rotary speed of the rotor, ratio of powder/ball charge, load ratio of the system, process temperature, operating model and the quantity of process control agent (PCA). The Zn flakes were characterized by SEM, tap densitometry, laser diffraction and water coverage measurement.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.7-12
• /
• 2010

In this work, effect of various process-control agents (PCAs) on the mechanical alloying of amorphous alloy of $Al_{85}Y_8Ni_5Co_2$ has been investigated. The dependence of the particle shape, size and crystallization behavior of the amorphous alloy powders on the type of PCAs and their concentrations was investigated by using X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. It was found that the additive of toluene could affect positively the amorphization and thermally induced crystallization processes, as well as the size refinement, morphology and particle-size distribution of as-milled powders in comparison with alloy obtained without PCA.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.242-250
• /
• 2023

Titanium, which has excellent strength and toughness characteristics, is increasingly used in the aerospace field. Among the titanium alloys used for body parts, more than 80 % are Ti-6Al-4V alloys with a tensile strength of 931 MPa. The spark plasma sintering (SPS) method is used for solidification molding of powder manufactured by the mechanical milling (MM) method, by sintering at low temperature for a short time. This sintering method avoids coarsening of the fine crystal grains or dispersed particles of the MM powder. To improve the mechanical properties of pure titanium without adding alloying elements, stearic acid was added to pure titanium powder as a process control agent (PCA), and MM treatment was performed. The properties of the MM powder and SPS material produced by solidifying the powder were investigated by hardness measurement, X-ray diffraction, density measurement and structure observation. The processing deformation of the pure titanium powder depends on the amount of stearic acid added and the MM treatment time. TiN was also generated in powder treated by MM 8 h with 0.50 g of added stearic acid, and the hardness of the powder was higher than that of Ti-6Al-4V alloy when treated with MM for 8 h. When the MM-treated powder was solidified in the SPS equipment, TiC was formed by the solid phase reaction. The SPS material prepared as a powder treated with MM 8 h by adding 0.50 g of stearic acid also formed TiN and exhibited the highest hardness of Hv1253.