Effect Of Crystal Fraction On Hardness In Finemet And Nanoperm Nanocomposite Alloys

Nanocrystallization kinetics of a FINEMET (Fe71.1Si18.5B6.3Nb3Cu1.1) and a NANOPERM alloy (Fe91Zr7B2) were studied and the variation of mechanical properties (hardness) with volume fraction of the crystalline (VFC) phase determined. Time-dependent magnetization and hysteresis loop measurements were used to determine VFC for FINEMET and NANOPERM, respectively. Kinetic results are presented to provide the information necessary to interpret the hardness measurements. Hardness was measured by nanoindentation as a function of VFC to investigate the effect of the evolution of the nanocomposite structure on the mechanical properties. Strengthening mechanisms to understand the linear increase of hardness with the increase of VFC are presented. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.