Formation of solid solution of carbon in BCC iron by cold deformation

The solid solution of carbon in BCC Fe was studied by the Mössbauer method. Samples were synthesized from a powder mixture of armco–iron and thermal black by shear under compression between Bridgman anvils at room temperature. In addition to the formation of a solid solution with carbon concentration at iron interstices of ≈2 at.%, samples deformed under compression to a shear of ε=6.7 contained a nonequilibrium nanosized mechanical mixture of carbon and iron. This mixture formed ≈50% cementite at 870 K (1 h). The structural component (sub-spectrum) B was resolved in spectra of synthesized samples of iron with carbon. It is possibly connected with the lattice dilatation and localization of interatomic bonds near grain boundaries and interstitial carbon atoms.