Some kinetic features of mechanical alloying transformation processes

The development of a methodological approach and experimental protocols have permitted the accurate evaluation of some of the key parameters of a ball milling process, such as the impact energy and the number of impacts. Thus, a detailed description of the milling regime in terms of energy transfer to the powders has been possible. On this basis, the crystal to amorphous state reaction of Cu-Ti mixture has been studied for widely differing milling conditions. The analysis of X-ray diffraction data has shown correlations between the parameters of the milling treatment which relate to energy and the structural evolution of the amorphous phase. An attempt has been made to relate the observed kinetic features to a rate law involving microscopic pulse energy and structural factors. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.