Influence of process control agents on the performance of Ni3Al by mechanical alloying

The influence of process control agents (PCAs) on the mechanical properties of Ni3Al intermetallic compounds by mechanical alloying was investigated in order to develop oxide deposition reinforced intermetallics. The PCAs in mechanical alloying were pure ligroin, 75 vol.% ligroin + 25 vol.% alcohol, 50 vol.% ligroin + 50 vol.% alcohol, 25 vol.% ligroin + 75 vol.% alcohol, and pure alcohol. The normal composition is Ni−22.9at.%Al−0.5at.%B, the ball-to-powder weight ratio is 10:1, and the milling time is 30 min. Then, the powders were sintered by spark plasma sintering under 40 MPa for 5 min at 1000°C. The results show that a higher bending strength and a higher hardness were obtained when the PCAs were 75% ligroin + 25% alcohol in mechanical alloying. The bending strength is about 2700 MPa and the hardness (HV) is more than 6 GPa.