Amorphization and crystallization processes of the ball-milled Al–Y–Fe–TM alloys (TM = Ni, Co, Cu, and Fe)

High-energy ball milling was used to synthesize aluminum-based alloys containing amorphous and nanocrystalline phases to investigate the compositional effects of transition metals (TM) on the amorphization and crystallization processes of the ball-milled Al{sub 85}Y{sub 7}Fe{sub 5}TM{sub 3} alloys (TM = Ni, Co, Cu, and Fe) were investigated. The crystallization kinetics of the ball-milled Al-Y-Fe-TM nanocomposite powders were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The DSC results of Al{sub 83}Y{sub 7}Fe{sub 5}Ni{sub 5} show that the crystallization temperature and the activation energy of crystallization are 668 K and 310 kJ/mol, respectively. In-situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction showed that the crystallization was a complex process involving growth of the nanocrystalline phase along with crystallization of the amorphous matrix phase.