Mechanical alloying of Fe–Mn and Fe–Mn–Si

The ball milling of Fe–24Mn and Fe–24Mn–6Si mixed powders has been performed by the high energy ball milling technique. By employing X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer measurements, the composition evolution during the milling process has been investigated. The results indicate the formation of paramagnetic Fe–Mn or Fe–Mn–Si alloys with a metastable fcc phase as final products, which imply that the Fe and Mn proceed a co-diffusion mechanism through the surface of fragmented powders. The thermal stability and composition evolution of the as-milled alloys were discussed comparing with the bulk alloy.