SYNTHESIS OF AMORPHOUS/NANOCRYSTALLINE Ni–Ti POWDERS BY USING LOW ENERGY MECHANICAL ALLOYING
An amorphous/nanocrystalline 50 Ni –50 Ti powder was produced from elemental Ti and Ni powders by solid state synthesis utilizing low energy mechanical alloying with times up to 100 h. The morphology, microstructure, and phase composition of the milling products were evaluated by using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The results indicated that there was no chemical reaction between the elements during the milling process, which led to the direct formation of an amorphous/nanocrystalline structure without any intermediate phase (intermetallic and/or solid solution phase) formation. It seems that the second kind of amorphization process proposed by Weeber and Bakker is governed. It was shown that the formation of amorphous phase was started after 80 h and developed during the milling for 100 h.