Structural Evolution of Nano-sized Oxide Particles Formed in Mechanically Alloyed Fe-10Cr-5Y₂O₃ Powders

Fe-10Cr-5Y2O3 powders were mechanically alloyed using a high energy horizontal ball-mill apparatus, and the effect of heat treatment on the behavior of nano-sized oxide particles formed in the mechanically alloyed Fe-10Cr-5Y2O3 powders was investigated. Elongated Cr-rich and Y-rich oxides were observed in the mechanically alloyed powders. During the heating of these powders above 700 °C, the elongated Cr-rich oxides were dramatically changed to a near- spherical morphology. Cubic-Y2O3, monoclinic-Y2O3 and YFeO3 phases were also found after heat treatment at 1150 °C for 1h, indicating that the Y-rich oxide phase was transformed to the cubic-Y2O3, monoclinic-Y2O3 and YFeO3 ones. It is thus concluded that both a morphological change of Cr-rich oxide and a phase transformation of Y-rich oxide during the heating of mechanically alloyed powders could be mainly attributed to extremely high energy, accumulated by the mechanical alloying process.