Effect of Boron on the Amorphization of Fe-Si Alloys by Mechanical Alloying

The amorphization process by mechanical alloying in the Fe-Si alloy system has been studied. High energy ball milling has been applied for alloys synthesis. X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to monitor the structural and phase transformations through the different stages of milling. The addition of amorphous boron in the milling process and the increase of the milling time were used to improve the formation of the amorphous phase. Heating the samples resulted in the crystallization of the synthesized amorphous alloys and the appearance of equilibrium intermetallic compounds.