Two different reaction mechanisms for Ti50C50 and Ti33B67 have been ob
served respectively during milling in a planetary ball mill. It is sho
wn that a gradual reaction occurred during milling Ti50C50, while a se
lf-sustained reaction was obtained during milling Ti33B67 under the sa
me milling condition. Compared with the results of milling Ti50C50 in
a spex mill, the difference in mechanism is suggested to be caused by
the effect of plastic deformation on the changes of fine grains and in
ternal strain during milling, and the different formation heat of TiC
and TiB2, which is the driving force for the reactions. (C) 1996 Ameri
can Institute of Physics.