Abstract
A mixture of aluminum alloy powder, 2024, and 2 wt% of nickel powder has been mechanically alloyed in a vibratory ball mill to investigate the effects of process variables on mechanical properties of the consolidated products. It was found that ball charge and powder charge played important roles on tensile properties; in as-work-ed specimens, milling with lower ball charge or lower powder charge was desirable to achieve good results. In T6-treated specimens, however, higher ball charge gave rather good tensile properties. Changes in ball size and mill pot capacity showed little effect on tensile properties. Process control agent was another variable which played an important role on mechanical properties. Carbon and graphite were effective additives for improvement of tensile strength; both ambient and elevated (200°C) tensile strengths increased with their addition. Though addition of zinc stearate also brought an increase in room temperature strength, it was bad to ductility.
