Densification and Structural Evolution in Spark Plasma Sintering Process of Mechanically Alloyed Nanocrystalline Fe-23Al-6C Powder

Abstract

Nanocrystalline Fe-23 at%Al-6 at%C alloy powder was produced by mechanical alloying of the mixture of iron powder and aluminum powder (Fe-25 at%Al) with methanol, and was consolidated into fully dense compact by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 1273 K. The compacts have nanocrystalline microstructure composed of mixture of -phase grains and -carbide (Fe 3 AlC) grains whose average grain size is about 50 nm. Although relatively large grains were also observed in places, their sizes were not over a few micrometers. The mechanisms of the densification and the structural evolution during the SPS process are discussed.

Bimodal Microstructure in an AlZrTi Alloy Prepared by Mechanical Milling and Spark Plasma Sintering

“…Consequently, a partial melting of the powder particles was observed and resulted in a formation of bimodal structure. Similar results were found also by Koizumi et al in the Fe-23Al-6C alloy [ 33 ], by Srinivasarao et al in Al-Zr alloys prepared by mechanical alloying followed by SPS [ 24 ] and by Sasaki et al in an Al-Fe alloy [ 34 ].…”