Moessbauer spectroscopic studies of Fe-20 wt.% Cr ball milled alloy

Interesting differences were noticed in the alloying process during ball milling of Fe-10 wt.% Cr and Fe-20 wt.% Cr alloys by 57Fe Moessbauer spectroscopic studies. In both cases, there is almost no diffusion of Fe in Cr or vice versa up to 20 h of milling time. As the powders are milled for another 20 h substantive changes occur in the Moessbauer spectra showing atomic level mixing. But the two compositions behave differently with respect to alloying. Fe-20 wt.% Cr sample does not differ much in the hyperfine field distribution as it is milled from 40 to 100 h. On the other hand, the hyperfine field distribution keeps on changing with milling time for Fe-10 wt.% Cr sample even up to 100 h of milling. The average crystallite size is found to be 7.5 nm for Fe-10 wt.% Cr and 6.5 nm in Fe-20 wt.% Cr after milling.