Effect of mechanical alloying on combustion synthesis of MoSi₂

Characteristics of the combustion synthesis of MoSi₂ using elemental Mo and Si powder mixtures prepared by mechanical alloying were investigated. The mechanical alloying resulted in powders of pseudolamellar structure and a partial conversion of the elemental powders to hexagonal MoSi₂ phase. Combustion reaction of the mixture was ignited around 670 °C, which is much lower than that with the powder prepared by low-energy ball milling. A mathematical model was developed to demonstrate the possibility of the ignition of the combustion reaction of the lamellar structure via a solid-state diffusional process. On the basis of model, effects of mechanical alloying time on the ignition temperature and combustion temperature are discussed.