AMORPHIZATION OF MIXED NI AND ZR POWDERS BY MECHANICAL ALLOYING

The amorphization of elemental Ni and Zr powders by mechanical alloyin g was investigated. The effects of the milling conditions, such as the temperature, intensity and milling tool material, were examined. A hi gher milling temperature enhances the amorphization reaction and a str onger milling intensity results in the formation of intermetallic comp ounds. The amount of iron impurity during ball milling with steel tool s was several times larger than the tungsten carbide (WC) impurity pro duced using WC tools, even under similar milling conditions, such as t he same number of balls and the same weight of sample. The local struc ture and thermal properties of mechanically alloyed samples were compa red in detail with those of liquid quenched samples.