Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Nanostructured Materials and Nanocomposites by Mechanical Alloying: An Overview

  • Published:
Metals and Materials International Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The technique of mechanical alloying, although originally developed to produce oxide-dispersion-strengthened superalloys for aerospace and high-temperature applications, is now recognized as an important and versatile technique to synthesize metastable and advanced materials with a high potential for widespread applications. Mechanical alloying involves repeated cold welding, fracturing, and rewelding of powder particles in a high-energy ball mill. The reduced diffusion distances between metal powder layers formed as a result of heavy deformation, introduction of a high density of crystal defects, and a slight rise in powder temperature contribute to alloy formation from blended elemental powders. The type of phases/materials produced by mechanical alloying of powder mixtures include supersaturated solid solutions, intermetallics, quasicrystalline alloys, high-entropy alloys, amorphous alloys, and composites. If the material produced is crystalline in nature, most often the grain size is in the nanometer size. Amongst these phases, nanostructured materials and nanocomposites have been the most important types investigated. In this contribution, we will present an overview of the processing, characteristics, and properties of nanocrystalline materials and nanocomposites produced by mechanical alloying, with special emphasis on our recent work.

Graphical abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. C. Suryanarayana (ed.), Non-Equilibrium Processing of Materials (Pergamon, Oxford, 1999)

    Google Scholar 

  2. J.S. Benjamin, Mechanical alloying: history and future potential, in Advances in Powder Metallurgy and Particulate Materials, vol. 7 (Novel Powder Processing), (eds.) J.M. Capus and R.M. German, Metal Powder Industries Federation, Princeton, NJ, 1992, pp. 155–168

  3. C. Suryanarayana, Met. Mater. Int. 2, 195 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. C. Suryanarayana, Prog. Mater. Sci. 46, 1 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. C. Suryanarayana, Mechanical Alloying and Milling (Marcel Dekker Inc, New York, 2004)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  6. C. Suryanarayana, Research 2019, 4219812 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  7. B.S. Murty, J.W. Yeh, S. Ranganathan, P.P. Bhattacharjee, High Entropy Alloys, 2nd edn. (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2019)

    Google Scholar 

  8. C. Suryanarayana, J.L. Liu, Int. J. Mater. Res. 103, 1125 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. E. Ma, Prog. Mater. Sci. 50, 413 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. C. Suryanarayana, T. Klassen, E. Ivanov, J. Mater. Sci. 46, 6301 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. H. Gleiter, Prog. Mater. Sci. 33, 223 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. C. Suryanarayana, Int. Mater. Rev. 40, 41 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. C. Suryanarayana, Adv. Eng. Mater. 7, 983 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. C. Suryanarayana, E. Ivanov, in Advances in Powder Metallurgy, ed. by I. Chang, Y. Zhao (Woodhead Publishing Ltd., Oxford, 2013), pp. 42–68

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  15. T.G. Nieh, J. Wadsworth, Scripta Metall. Mater. 25, 955 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. N.X. Sun, K. Lu, Phys. Rev. B 59, 5987 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. C. Suryanarayana, G.-H. Chen, A. Frefer, F.H. Froes, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 158, 93 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. C. Suryanarayana, G.E. Korth, F.H. Froes, Metall. Mater. Trans. A28, 293 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. U.M.R. Seelam, G. Barkhordarian, C. Suryanarayana, J. Mater. Res. 24, 3454 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. C. Suryanarayana, S. Sharma, Funct. Mater. Lett. 2, 147 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. C. Suryanarayana, A. Al-Joubori, J. Mater. Res. 30, 2124 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. M.A. Hussein, C. Suryanarayana, N. Al-Aqeeli, Mater. Design 87, 693 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. D. Ağaoğulları, O. Balcı, M.L. Ovecoğlu, C. Suryanarayana, İ. Duman, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 35, 4121 (2015)

  24. M.K. Miller, C.M. Parish, Q. Li, Mater. Sci. Technol. 29, 1174 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. G.R. Odette, M.J. Alinger, B.D. Wirth, Annu. Rev. Mater. Res. 38, 471 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. C. Suryanarayana, A.A. Al-Joubori, in Encyclopedia of Iron, Steel, and Their Alloys. ed. by R. Colas, G.E. Totten (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2016), pp. 159–177

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  27. C. Suryanarayana, A. Inoue, Int. Mater. Rev. 58, 131 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. U. Patil, S.J. Hong, C. Suryanarayana, J. Alloy. Compd. 389, 121 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. S. Sharma, C. Suryanarayana, J. Appl. Phys. 102, 083544 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Y. Weng (ed.), Ultra-Fine Grained Steels (Springer, Berlin, 2009)

    Google Scholar 

  31. H.K.D.H. Bhadeshia, Proc. R. Soc. A 466, 3 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. H.K.D.H. Bhadeshia, Sci. Technol. Adv. Mat. 14, 014202 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. C. Suryanarayana, A. Inoue, in Bulk Metallic Glasses, 2nd edn. (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2018).

    Google Scholar 

  34. C. Kammerhofer, A. Hohenwarter, S. Scheriau, H.P. Brantner, R. Pippan, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 585, 190 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. H.W. Zhang, R. Gopalan, T. Mukai, K. Hono, Scripta Mater. 53, 863 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. K. Oh-ishi, H.W. Zhang, Y. Ohkubo, K. Hono, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 456, 20 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. M. Umemoto, Z.G. Liu, H. Takaoka, M. Sawakami, K. Tsuchiya, K. Masuyama, Metall. Mater. Trans. A 32, 2127 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. R. Shashanka, D. Chaira, Powder Technol. 259, 125 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. M.H. Enayati, M.R. Bafandeh, J. Alloy. Compd. 454, 228 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. A.A. Al-Joubori, Synthesis and characterization of stable and metastable phases in Fe- and Ni-based alloy systems by mechanical alloying, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2016

  41. A.A. Al-Joubori, C. Suryanarayana, J. Mater. Sci. 53, 7877 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. A.A. Al-Joubori, C. Suryanarayana, Mater. Lett. 187, 140 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. A.A. Al-Joubori, C. Suryanarayana, J. Mater. Sci. 52, 11919 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. F.H. Keating, Chromium-Nickel Austenitic Steels (Butterworths Scientific Publications, London, 1956)

    Google Scholar 

  45. C. Suryanarayana, N. Al-Aqeeli, Prog. Mater. Sci. 58, 383 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. B. Prabhu, C. Suryanarayana, L. An, R. Vaidyanathan, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 425, 192 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. J.L. Liu, C. Suryanarayana, M. Zhang, Y. Wang, F.Q. Yang, L. An, Int. J. Mater. Res. 108, 848 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. T. Klassen, C. Suryanarayana, R. Bormann, Scripta Mater. 59, 455 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. C. Suryanarayana, R. Behn, T. Klassen, R. Bormann, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 579, 18 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. B. Srinivasarao, C. Suryanarayana, K. Oh-ishi, K. Hono, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 518, 100 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. N. Al-Aqeeli, K. Abdullahi, C. Suryanarayana, T. Laoui, S. Nouari, Mater. Manuf. Process. 28, 984 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  52. N. Al-Aqeeli, K. Abdullahi, A.S. Hakeem, C. Suryanarayana, T. Laoui, S. Nouari, Powder Metall. 56, 149 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. D.S. Zhou, H.W. Geng, W. Zeng, D.Q. Zheng, H.C. Pan, C. Kong, P. Munroe, G. Sha, C. Suryanarayana, D.L. Zhang, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 712, 80 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. T. Lu, C.G. Chen, P. Li, C.Z. Zhang, W.H. Han, Y. Zhou, C. Suryanarayana, Z.M. Guo, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 799, 140161 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. J.L. Liu, C. Suryanarayana, D. Ghosh, G. Subhash, L. An, J. Alloy. Compd. 563, 165 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. J. Chen, C.G. Bao, Y. Wang, J.L. Liu, C. Suryanarayana, Acta Metall. Sinica 28, 1354 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. C. Suryanarayana, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 479, 23 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. W.W. Zhang, Y. Hu, Z. Wang, C. Yang, G.Q. Zhang, K.G. Prashanth, C. Suryanarayana, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 734, 34 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. M.S. Xie, C. Suryanarayana, Y.L. Zhao, W.W. Zhang, C. Yang, G.Q. Zhang, Y.N. Fu, Z. Wang, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 785, 139212 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. K.K. Chawla, A.H. Esmaeili, A.K. Datye, A.K. Vasudevan, Scripta Metall. Mater. 25, 1315 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. S. Suresh, T. Christman, Y. Sugimura, Scripta Metall. Mater. 23, 1599 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. S. Suresh, K.K. Chawla, in Fundamentals of Metal Matrix Composites, ed. by S. Suresh, A. Mortensen, A. Needleman (Butterworths-Heinemann, Stoneham, 1993), pp. 119–136

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Ms. M.S. Xie for useful discussions regarding the Al-Metallic Glass composites.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816-2450, USA

    C. Suryanarayana

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, People’s Republic of China

    C. Suryanarayana

  3. Department of Applied Mechanics, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq

    Ahmed A. Al-Joubori

  4. National Engineering Research Center of Near-Net-Shape Forming for Metallic Materials, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, People’s Republic of China

    Zhi Wang

Authors
  1. C. Suryanarayana
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ahmed A. Al-Joubori
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Zhi Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. Suryanarayana.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Suryanarayana, C., Al-Joubori, A.A. & Wang, Z. Nanostructured Materials and Nanocomposites by Mechanical Alloying: An Overview. Met. Mater. Int. 28, 41–53 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12540-021-00998-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12540-021-00998-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation