Mechanical properties and microstructure of Fe_3Al intermetallics fabricated by mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering

Fabrication technology and mechanical properties of the Fe3Al based alloys were studied by spark plasma sintering from elemental powders (Fe-3OAl, volume fraction, %) and mechanically alloying powders. The mechanically alloying powders were processed by the high-energy ball milling the elemental mixture powders with the milling time of 5, 8 and 10 min, respectively. The spark plasma sintering process was performed under the pressure of 50 MPa at 1050℃for 5 min. The phase identification by X-ray diffraction presents the Fe reacts with Al completely during the processing time. The samples are nearly full density (e.g. the relative density of sinter of raw powder is 99%). The microstructure was observed by TEM. The mechanical properties were tested by three-point bending at room temperature in air. The results show that the mechanical properties are better (e.g. bend strength of 1 500 MPa) than those of the ordinary Fe3Al casting.

Fabrication technology and mechanical properties of the Fe3Al based alloys were studied by spark plasma sintering from elemental powders （Fe-30Al, volume fraction, %） and mechanically alloying powders. The mechanically alloying powders were processed by the high-energy ball milling the elemental mixture powders with the milling time of 5, 8 and 10 min, respectively. The spark plasma sintering process was performed under the pressure of 50 MPa at 1 050 ℃ for 5 min. The phase identification by X-ray diffraction presents the Fe reacts with Al completely during the processing time. The samples are nearly full density （e.g. the relative density of sinter of raw powder is 99%）. The microstructure was observed by TEM. The mechanical properties were tested by three-point bending at room temperature in air. The results show that the mechanical properties are better （e.g. bend strength of 1 500 MPa ） than those of the ordinary Fe3Al casting.