Acceleration of mechanical size reduction of chromium carbide powders and mixtures based on chromium carbide

We have investigated how mechanical activation by rolling on smooth rollers affects the dispersion kinetics of chromium carbide powders and mixtures of chromium carbide powder with nickel in a ball mill. We have shown that preliminary double rolling of chromium carbide powder on a rolling mill accelerates particle size reduction in the ball mill down to a size of 1.4–1.5 µm by a factor of 4.6 compared with unrolled powder. In this case, the size reduction increases from 36 to 91 in relative units. The mean particle diameter for the powders and mixtures decreases exponentially as the grinding time increases from 12 h to 84 h.