A neutron diffraction study of ordering in an iron–cobalt–1.8% vanadium alloy

Neutron diffraction is used to determine the degree of long-range order in an FeCo1.8% V alloy as, in contrast to X-rays, the scattering factors for iron and cobalt differ considerably for neutrons. The effect of a number of variables, e.g. disordering temperature and cold-work, on the ordering kinetics are investigated, the most significant of these probably being cold-work. It is found that cold-work retard ordering although the activation energy for ordering is the same as that for the undeformed condition, namely approximately 2.5 eV/atom.