Author: P. Endla

DOI: http://doi.org/10.31788/RJC.2026.1929591

This paper examines the structural development of iron -chromium alloy powder that was generated through the ball milling process. The primary emphasis is on the investigation of the lattice strain and nanocrystalline size inthesynthesis of iron-chromium alloys by long milling. XRD analysis established that a body-centred cubic structure hadbeen formed with the reflections mainly formed by the (110), (200) and (211) planes. The crystallite size, latticestrain and density of dislocation were determined by Williamson-Hall and modified Scherrer. It was found that thecrystallite size steadily decreased with milling time, with the largest crystal size of approximately eleven nanometersafter sixty hours and a corresponding increase in lattice strain, thus signifying increased internal stress and defect development. TEM images favoured the existence of pseudo-spherical nanograins in the same size scale. Other parameters obtained in the study by use of diffraction data include the Debye-Waller factor (DWF), the mean squareamplitude of vibration, and Debye temperature (DT), and it showed a progressive loss of thermal stability as strainincreases. The lowered DT was an indication of lattice softening due to long-lasting mechanical deformation. Ingeneral, the discussion proved that mechanical alloying is a successful method of refining particle size (PS), improving lattice strain (LS), and changing thermal and structural properties of the iron-chromiumnanocrystallinealloy.

Keywords: Iron–Chromium Alloy, Mechanical Alloying, Lattice Strain, Nanocrystalline Size, X-Ray Diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Debye Temperature.