Journal of Advanced Materials in Engineering (Esteghlal)

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Production of nickel-silver by mechanical alloying was investigated. Effects of parameters such as milling duration, ball to powder weight ratio, and chemical composition on mechanical alloying process, and alloy's color and microstructure were studied. The milled powders were characterized, using XRD and SEM. Results showed that nickel-silvers could be produced by mechanical alloying in a wide range of compositions. Alloyed powder with a bright silvery contrast and less than 15 nm grain size could be obtained by optimization of milling parameters. Zinc content of the powder mixture had a significant effect on the minimum alloying time. Ball to powder ratio up to 25 also reduced minimum alloying time but it had no significant effect above this value.

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In this study, Mo-14Si-10B and Mo-57Si-10B (at%) elemental powders were separately milled using an attritor mill. Mechanically alloyed powders were agglomerated and annealed. Then, powders of Mo-Si-B as alloyed (with composites) and agglomerated (without composites) were plasma sprayed onto plain carbon steels. The samples, both coated and non-coated, were subjected to isothermal oxidation tests. Metallurgical characteristics of powders and coatings were evaluated by SEM and XRD. Plasma-sprayed Mo-Si-B coatings (with phases of MoSi2, Mo5Si3, MoB and Mo5SiB2) greatly improved the oxidation resistance of the plain steel substrates, but plasma-sprayed Mo-Si-B coatings (without any phases) did not significantly improve the oxidation rate of substrates. Also, the kinetics and composition of the oxide-scale have been found to depend on the alloy composition.

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In this study, forsterite nanopowder was prepared by mechanical alloying and post-heat treatment method. Bioactive properties of forsterite nanopowder were studied by immersing the powder in the SBF. Nanostructure forsterite bulk dense form was prepared by the two step sintering method. It was found that pure forsterite nanopowder with 25-60nm particle size was produced. The results of soaking of forsterite nanopowder in the SBF showed that forsterite nanopowder is bioactive. Also, forsterite dense bulk with the optimal hardness of 940 Hv and fracture toughness of 3.61 MPa.m1/2 was produced. These findings suggest that forsterite nanostructure ceramics possess good biocompatibility, bioactivity and mechanical properties and could be suitable for orthopedic and dental implant materials.

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Mechanical alloying technique is used for production of nanostructured soft magnetic alloys. In this work the back propagation (BP) artificial neural adopted to model the effect of various mechanical alloying parameters i.e. milling time and chemical composition, on the properties of Fe-Ni powders. Lattice parameter, grain size, lattice strain, coersivity and saturation intrinsic flux density are considered as the output of five BP neural networks. The results obtained show the efficiency of designed networks for the prediction of the properties of Fe-Ni powders.

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Fe-Co alloys have unique magnetic applications. Fe50Co50 alloy has the highest saturation magnetization value among Fe-Co alloys. Moreover, the introduction of Si into Fe can result in a decrease of magnetic anisotropy. In this study, in order to utilize combined advantages of Si and Co, the effect of adding 10 and 20 at.% Si on the microstructural and magnetic properties of Fe65Co35 alloy was investigated. For this purpose, initial powder mixtures with specific compositions were milled by means of planetary ball mill for different milling times. Microstructural properties and morphology of the obtained powders were analyzed by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Also, magnetic properties of the samples were determined by means of vibration sample magnetometer (VSM). The results showed that the crystallite size was finer and more uniform and lattice strain was decreased slightly for longer milling times. Observations indicated that the addition of Si to the alloys leads to finer particles. The results also showed that increasing the Si content increases the reduction rate of lattice parameter and coercivity.

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In this study, at first Al-Al2O3 composite powders having different volume fractions of Al2O3 (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 vol.%) were produced by low energy mechanical alloying, which were used as foam materials. Then, composite foams with 50, 60, and 70 percent of porosity were produced by space-holder technique. Spherical carbamide particles (1-1.4 mm) were used to achieve spherical porosities. In order to investigate the compressive behavior of foams, the compression test with strain rate of 10-3 S-1 was performed on the foam samples. The results showed that the compressive properties depended on the volume fraction of Al2O3 and porosity fraction. Generally, by decreasing the porosity fraction, the compressive properties were improved. The composite foams containing 10 vol.% Al2O3 showed superior compressive properties in comparison to other foams studied in this work.

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this study, MoSi2-TiB2 nanocomposites with 10 and 20 wt.% of TiB2 were synthesized by mechanical alloying through two different methods. In the first method, elemental powders of molybdenum, silicon, titanium and boron were milled together for 60 hours. In the second method, MoSi2 was made by 30-hours milling of Mo and Si. Then, commercial TiB2 was added to the matrix and milling was continued for another 30 hours. Heat treatment was carried out on the resultant specimens at 1000˚C for 60 min. The effect of mechanical alloying on grain size and lattice strain was investigated by Williamson-Hall method using XRD patterns. The mechanical properties of the samples were determined by hardness test. It was found that TiB2 added to MoSi2 increased hardness considerably. Agglomeration process was carried out on the powders to be used in thermal spray process. The morphology and microstructure of the milled powders before and after agglomeration process were studied by SEM. The sphericity and particle size distribution of agglomerated particles were evaluated using Clemex software. The results showed that the nanocomposite powder produced by the first method had a higher quality for thermal spray process due to its higher hardness compared to the second one. It also had adequate particles sphericity.

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The aim of this investigation was to produce Ti47Al48Mn5 intermetallic compounds with different microstructures in order to study their oxidation behavior. The reason for selecting manganese as an alloying element was to enhance the toughness of the compound. Ti47Al48Mn5 alloys were obtained through mechanical alloying, cold pressing and heat treatment. XRD results showed that milling of the elemental powder mixture for 30 hours causes the formation of Al and Mn in Ti solid solution, while by increasing milling time up to 50 hours, amorphization of powder mixture occurs. To obtain duplex and fully lamellar microstructures, the mechanically alloyed powders were cold pressed and then heat treated at 1100 °C and 1400 °C in argon atmosphere for 50 hours, respectively. The results of the oxidation test at 1000 °C revealed that the different microstructures of Ti47Al48Mn5 alloy investigated in this study have little effect on the oxidation resistance, and similar oxidation mechanisms existed for the two microstructures.

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In this study, the effect of mechanical alloying on the microstructure and phase constituents of Mg-6Al-1Zn-1Si system was investigated. To understand the thermal behavior, isothermal annealing was performed at three different temperatures of 350, 400 and 450 °C for 1h. The results showed the grain size initially decreases with increasing the milling time up to 35h and then slightly increases. In contrast, the lattice strain increases sharply with increasing the milling time up to 35h and then decreases. Second-phase intermetallic particle Mg2Si was produced during annealing and the amount of this phase was increased with increasing annealing temperature. The mechanical alloying process decreased the formation temperature of Mg2Si.

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In this investigation, Ni₄₇Mn₄₀Sn₁₃ ferromagnetic shape memory alloy was prepared by mechanical alloying. The metal powders were ball milled in argon atmosphere for 20 hours. X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed formation of crystalline structure of Heusler alloy. As-milled powder samples were sealed in quartz tubes under high vacuum and subjected to heat treatments at 950°C for different time durations. Then, the effect of isothermal ageing on structural, magnetic and electrical properties of samples was investigated. Results of electrical resistance displayed a metal-like behavior around martensitic transformation. The results showed that 16 hours of annealing was the optimal time for producing this alloy which could be an appropriate candidate for magnetic refrigerant.

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In this study, synthesis of silicon nitride by mechanical alloying and the effects of important parameters of milling time and heat treatment temperature, time and rate are presented. Silicon micro powder and nitrogen gas were used as precursor materials. Synthesized phases, morphology and particle size were investigated by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) and Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), respectively. X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) was used for silicon nitride purity investigation.The optimum sample was produced at 30 h milling time, heat treatment at 1300 ℃ and 22 ℃/min heating rate conditions. X-ray fluorescence analysis showed more than 98% purity.

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This study has examined the properties of Crofer 22APU stainless steel produced by mechanical alloying for using as interconnect plates in solid oxide fuel cells.This alloy was produced by mixing the source powders and mechanical alloying for 40 hours. For creating a sample with high density, spark-plasma sintering was applied at 1100 °C and 50 Mpa stress for
10 minutes. To achieve the desired properties such as low electrical resistance and high oxidation resistance, a number of samples were coated by manganese-cobalt using electrodiposition technique at current density of 150 mA/cm ² for 40 minutes. Then, considering the properties required for an interconnect plate of solid oxide fuel cell, oxidation resistance and electrical resistance of the coated and uncoated samples were investigated. Oxidation behavior of the coated and uncoated samples, after 100 hours oxidation in air at 800°C did not follow any rule and its curve was a sinus type. The electrical resistance of uncoated samples was in the range of 0.1-0.2 mOhm.cm², but the electrical resistance of the coated samples after 100 h oxidation reached to a less ammount  than that of the corresponding uncoated ones. The alloy produced by mechanical alloying method, compared with commercial ones produced by casting methods, showed similar oxidation behavior after 100 h oxidation, but it had a surface electrical resistance far less than its commercial ones.

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In this paper, the phase formation process of Mn_2.5Ge samples, prepared by mechanical alloying of Mn and Ge metal powders and annealing, has been studied. Results showed that in the milled samples the stable phase is Mn₁₁Ge₈ compound with orthorhombic structure and Pnam space group. The value of saturation magnetization increases by increasing milling time from 0.2 up to 1.95 (Am²Kg^-1). The remanece of the samples increases by increasing the milling time while the coercivity decreases. Annealing of 15-hour milled sample results in disappearance of Mn and Ge and the formation of new phases of Mn₃Ge, Mn₅Ge₂, Mn₅Ge₃ and Mn_2.3Ge. Mn₃Ge is the main phase with Do₂₂ tetragonal structure and I4/mmm space group which is stable and dominant. The enhancement of saturation magnetization in the annealed sample is related to the formation of three new magnetic phases and the increase of coercivity is due to the presence of Mn₃Ge compound with tetragonal structure. Studies were replicated on samples made by arc melting method to compare the results and to investigate the effect of the preparation method on phase formation and structural and magnetic properties of the materials. In these samples the saturation value was in range of 0.2 up to 1.95 (Am²Kg^-1) depending on preparation methods. Rietveld refinement shows that Mn_2.3Ge sample prepared from arc melted under 620^oC anealing is single phase. Magnetic analysis of this sample show a saturation magnetization of 5.252(Am²Kg^-1) and 0.005 T coercive field.

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In this work, cobalt ferrite nanocrystallites were synthesized by air annealing of milled Co-Fe compound. Effect of annealing temperature on phase formation of cobalt ferrite and structural and magnetic properties of the product was studied. Analysis of annealed sample in 450 ^oC showed that around 46 weight percent of the specimen was changed to Co₂FeO₄. This value increased to 95 and 90% for 800 ^oC and 900 ^oC annealed samples respectively. Reduction of saturation magnetization under annealing was related to transformation of Co-Fe to cobalt ferrite. Increasing the value of saturation magnetization in 900 ^oC annealed sample compared to 800 ^oC one was attributed to decreased surface to volume ratio and crystallite size. The main reason of occurrence of maximum coercivity in 800  ^oC annealed sample was its low crystallite size.

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Cobalt-based amorphous alloys attracted the attention of many researchers to carry out fundamental research for their application in electronics, sensors and magnetic memory due to their special magnetic properties including close to zero Magnetostriction, magnetic permeability and high saturation magnetization. The purpose of this study is the  formation and evaluation of microstructure and magnetic properties of cobalt-based amorphous alloy produced by melt spinning and mechanical alloying. The final compositions produced by both methods were studied by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and vibrating magnetoresistance. The results showed that compound produced by chill block melt spinning has a better magnetic properties.

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Al-Zn-Mg/3 wt-% Al₂O₃ nanostructured composite powder was synthesized through Mechanical Alloying (MA). At first, the 7014 alloy matrix constituents were milled in a planetary ball mill for 20 hours. Then, 3 wt.% µ-Al₂O₃ particles were  added to the pre-milled matrix and the nanostructured composite powder was produced at different MA times to investigate the effects of MA time on the characteristics of the produced composite powders such as morphology, crystallite size, lattice strain and microhardness. The characterization results proved that synthesizing nanostructured composite powder with a low amount of micrometric reinforcements in addition to pre-milled micrometric matrix is possible. Also, synthesis of the nanostructured composite powder with the minimum crystallite size of 24 nm and the minimum mean particle size of 5 µm was confirmed. Moreover, the steady state occurred after around 20 hours milling and further milling did not affect the powder characteristics excluding crystallite size, lattice strain and microhardness. In addition, sinterability of the composite powders increased with increasing the milling time due to decreased average particle size. However, after the steady state, the sinterability did not change.
 
 

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In the present study, FeAl/Al₂O₃ nanocomposite coating was produced on the carbon steel plate using mechanical alloying (MA) technique via a mechanochemical reaction. Stoichiometric ratios of Fe, Al and Fe₂O₃ as well as a substrate were mixed and milled up to 22h in a vibrating high energy mill with a 4 mm ball. Samples prepared after 18h of MA were subjected to annealing at 773 K for 1-3 h. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and microhardness measurements were carried out to study mechanochemical reaction and coating formation characterization. The results showed that mechanochemical reactions were started after 10h of MA, which finally caused the slight formation of FeAl/Al₂O₃ nanocomposite. Increasing the milling time to 18 hours led to the continuous increase of the coating thickness up to 80 μm, while the coating layer fractured and began to peel by further milling. The microhardness of the coating after 18h milling was 1050 vickers. Annealing of the 18h milled powders at 773K for 3h led to the complete formation and synthesis of the FeAl/Al₂O₃ nanocomposite. The results showed that the annealing treatment had considerable effects on the hardness increase up to 1200 vickers as well as adhesion strength of the composite coating.
 

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