Influence of atomic ordering on sigma phase precipitation of the Fe₅₀Cr₅₀ alloy

Highlights: • σ-FeCr phase can be delayed when α-FeCr phase is ordered. • The formation of σ phase is favored by concentration gradients of α phase. • We determine the iron occupation number of the five sites of σ-Fe₅₀Cr₅₀. - Abstract: In this work we report a study of the kinetic of the formation of the σ-Fe₅₀Cr₅₀ alloy which is obtained by heat treatment of α-FeCr samples with different atomic ordering. Two α-FeCr alloys were obtained, one by mechanical alloying and the other by arc-melting. Both alloys were heated at 925 K for 170 h and then quenched into ice water. Before heat treatment both alloys exhibit α-FeCr disordered structure with greater ferromagnetic behavior in the alloy obtained by mechanical alloying due to its higher atomic disorder. The sigma phase precipitation is influenced by the atomic ordering of the bcc samples: in the alloy obtained by mechanical alloying, the bcc phase is completely transformed into the σ phase; in the alloy obtained by melted the α–σ transformation is partial.