Synthesis and Characterization of High-Energy Ball-Milled Tungsten Heavy Alloy Powders

Mechanical alloying has been utilized extensively to produce non-equilibrium microstructure with a high degree of homogeneity. In the present work, different compositions of elemental powders of W, Ni and Fe were mixed in a high-energy vibratory type ball-milling machine. The morphology of the mechanically reacted powders varied as a function of milling time and these differences were observed by means of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that elemental powders were progressively transformed into solid solution. The end product of the milled powder was uniform in size and homogeneous in shape. These results demonstrate that the mechanical alloying process can provide a powerful tool for the fabrication of tungsten heavy alloy powders at room temperature.