Effect of the composition of starting materials of Mo-Si on the mechanically induced self-propagating reaction

The effect of the raw materials composition of Mo-Si powders mixture on mechanical alloying has been investigated using a high-energy vibratory type ball-milling machine. The phase transformation of powders mixture is characterized by means of X-ray diffractometer. The results show that the molybdenum silicide is formed by the mechanically induced self-propagating reaction in relatively broad composition range from the molar ratio of Mo:1.5Si to Mo:2.5Si. As the content of silicon increases, the amount of critical stored energy for mechanically induced self-propagating reaction is increased, whereas the favorable Mo-Si reactive interface is decreased, and the difficulty of formation of Mo(Si) supersaturated solid solution is enhanced. These factors prolong the incubation period of mechanically induced self-propagating reaction from 60 to 130 min. Compared to stoichiometry of MoSi2, the excess amount of Mo acts as accelerant, and the redundant Si acts as diluting agent.