Mössbauer and X-ray studies of mechanically alloyed Fe60Ni30Cr10 prepared by high energy ball milling

• It is a complete study about the alloying process of a Fe60Ni30Cr10 alloy.
• The results provide insight into the mechanism formation of both solid solutions BCC and FCC-Fe(Ni, Cr).
• We establish the relations between microstructure and structure defects.
• Mössbauer analysis confirms the coexistence of the BCC and FCC solid solutions.

A nanostructured disordered iron–nickel–chromium alloy having the Fe60Ni30Cr10 composition is prepared through the mechanical alloying of elemental powders in a high-energy ball mill. The structural and morphological evolutions during mechanical alloying are investigated by X-ray diffraction, 57Fe Mössbauer spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy. The patterns obtained are carefully analyzed using the Maud program while the Mössbauer spectra are described by means of two independent components. The transformation of the phase is noted to depend on the alloying time. The final product of the mechanical alloying process is a nanocrystalline double-phase BCC-Fe and FCC-Fe(Ni, Cr) solid solution with a mean crystallite size in the range of few nanometers. Dislocation densities of 1.40 × 1015 m−2 and 1.46 × 1015 m−2 are observed for BCC and FCC phases after 100 h of milling, respectively.

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