MECHANICAL ALLOYING AND MILLING

An overview is presented about Ball Milling as a tool for generation of non-equilibrium materials. Emphasis is placed on recent experiments demonstrating the competition between thermodynamic and kinetic conditions during the process. Investigations of model systems with different thermodynamic prerequisites under varying milling conditions allow the identification of elementary processes. In systems with tendency for decomposition or ordered systems the possibility of steady states resulting from the competition of thermally activated and mechanically driven processes is discussed.