Structural, mechanical and magnetic properties of nanostructured FeAl alloys during disordering and thermal recovery

The microstructural, mechanical and magnetic properties of the ball milled and annealed Fe-40Al at% B2 alloys have been studied. The disordering process is characterized by an alloy hardening and a para-ferromagnetic transition, which depend mainly on the grain refinement and the creation of antisite defects. The reordering process shows a continuous softening of the nanocrystalline alloy and the recovery of the paramagnetic state, which is essentially governed by the annihilation of antisite defects. The correlation between the microstructural, mechanical and magnetic properties make magnetic measurements a suitable, non-destructive, tool to study the microstructural and mechanical state of FeAl nanocrystalline alloys. (C)1999 Acta Metallurgica lire.