Mechanical alloying

Mechanical alloying (MA) is a solid-state powder processing technique involving repeated cold welding, fracturing, and re-welding of powder particles in a high-energy ball mill. Originally developed to produce oxide-dispersion strengthened (ODS) nickel- and iron-base superalloys for applications in the aerospace industry,[1] MA has now been shown to be capable of synthesizing a variety of equilibrium and non-equilibrium alloy phases starting from blended elemental or pre-alloyed powders.[2]

Mechanical alloying is akin to metal powder processing, where metals may be mixed to produce superalloys. Mechanical alloying occurs in three steps. First, the alloy materials are combined in a ball mill and ground to a fine powder. A hot isostatic pressing (HIP) process is then applied to simultaneously compress and sinter the powder. A final heat treatment stage helps remove existing internal stresses produced during any cold compaction which may have been used. This produces an alloy suitable for high heat turbine blades and aerospace components.

References

  1. ↑ H. K. D. H. Bhadeshia, Practical ODS Alloys, Materials Science and Engineering A, 223 (1997)64-77
  2. ↑ Suryanarayana C. Mechanical alloying and milling, Progress in Materials Science 46 (2001) 1-184

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