Heat treatment effect on Nb-Al powder mixture after different durations of its high-energy mechanical activation
摘要
The effect of the duration of high-energy mechanical activation (HEMA) of the 3Nb‑0.88Al powder mixture precursors and a subsequent annealing at 300 and 500 °C on their microhardness is studied. It is found out that the precursor microhardness after one-minute HEMA decreases under the thermal impact. The HEMA intervals are identified, which are characterized by increased microhardness of precursors after their annealing at 300 °C. The values of microhardness are observed to be much larger after the thermal treatment at 500 °C, except for those mechanically activated for 1 and 1.5 min. It is hypothesized that it is the higher mixing efficiency improving with the HEMA duration, which favors an increase in the volume fraction of ordered compounds in the course of subsequent anneals.