Effect of Ball Size on the Microstructure and Morphology of Mg Powders Processed by High-Energy Ball Milling

Commercial powders of pure magnesium were processed by high-energy ball milling. The microstructural and morphological evolution of the powders was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). From the results obtained, it was determined that the ball size is the most influential milling parameter. This was because balls of 1 mm diameter were used after a previous stage of milling with larger balls (i.e., 10 and 3 mm). The powder particles presented an unusual morphology with respect to those observed in the Mg-milling literature and recrystallization phenomena. Moreover, the result strongly varied depending on the ball-to-powder weight ratio (BPR) used during the milling process.

Automated summary

Commercial powders of pure magnesium were processed by high-energy ball milling, and the microstructural and morphological evolution of the powders were studied using SEM, EDX, and XRD. The most influential milling parameters were found to be the ball size and ball-to-powder weight ratio.