Effect of mechanical alloying on the synthesis of Fe-TiC nanocomposite

Abstract

TiC particulates-reinforced Fe-based nanocomposites were fabricated using ferrotitanium and carbon black powders by mechanical alloying (MA). The raw materials were milled in a planetary ball mill and sampled in different times. The phase type, crystallite size, and mean strain of milled samples were estimated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of milled powders showed that titanium carbide was synthesized gradually after 90 min of milling and its formation was completed after 5 h and the crystallite size of the produced carbide was in nanometer scale. Increasing milling times gave rise to the reduction of crystallite size as well as the augmentation of the mean strain. Microstructural studies confirmed the accuracy of crystallite size calculations by XRD patterns.

Keywords

• mechanical alloying
• nanocomposite
• short time synthesis