A high-strength bulk nanocrystalline Al–Fe alloy processed by mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering

A bulk nanocrystalline Al–5 at.% Fe alloy was synthesized by mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering. The alloy exhibited a very high compressive yield strength of 1 GPa with a plastic strain of 0.3. The alloy consists of coarse α-Al grains that form from powder boundaries and nanocrystalline regions composed of α-Al and Al6Fe phases. The combination of the coarse and nanoscale grains are considered to be the reason for the large plastic strain in such a high-strength material.