Reversible grain size changes in ball-milled nanocrystalline Fe–Cu alloys

Abstract

Nanocrystalline FexCu100−x solid solutions (x < 60) with single-phase fcc structure have been prepared by mechanical alloying. The average grain size of the powders (8–20 nm) depends on the composition of the material. Varying the composition changes the grain size reversibly. This can be explained by the underlying mechanism of plastic deformation and solution hardening during mechanical alloying coupled with the recovery behavior of the material.