The effect of milling parameters on the synthesis of Ni3Al intermetallic compound by mechanical alloying

Ni and Al elemental powder mixtures with composition Ni75Al25 were mechanically alloyed in a planetary ball mill under different conditions. The structural changes of powder particles were studied by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Mechanical alloying (MA) first resulted in a Ni(Al) solid solution which transformed to the disordered Ni3Al intermetallic compound with nanocrystalline structure on further milling. The rate of this transformation was found to be dependent on milling variables such as rotation speed of mill and ball-to-powder weight ratio.