Paper Title
Study on the Formation Mechanism of Nanostructured Chromium Carbide During Mechanical Alloying

Abstract
In the present study nanostructured chromium carbide was fabricated by mechanical alloying of pure Cr and graphite powders. Phase transformations and microstructural changes during mechanical alloying was evaluated using XRay Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the formation of Cr7C3 started after 8h of milling time in a gradual mode and finished after 40h of mechanical alloying. The crystallite size of synthesized Cr7C3 was found as 20 nm. Grain refinement to nanometric scale and the formation of lamellar structure between chromium and graphite was found as the main reason for the synthesis of Chromium carbide at room temperature. Nanostructured chromium carbide was stable during heating at 900 0C for 1h. Keywords: Mechanical alloying, Chromium carbide, Thermodynamic analysis, nanostructured