A combined experimental and numerical approach to the kinetics of mechanically induced phase transformations

Numerical simulations have been used to estimate physical quantities relevant to mechanically induced transformation processes but inaccessible via experiment. Investigations focused on the mechanical response of an ensemble of polydisperse Co powder particles subjected to densification processes approximately reproducing impact conditions during ball milling. The numerically predicted total area of contacts between neighboring particles has been related to the experimental estimate of Co cubic phase amount formed at the first impact as a result of the Co allotropic hexagonal-to-cubic phase transformation. Experiments and numerical simulations at different impact energies and densification rates indicate a correlation between the aforementioned quantities.