Hydrogen will be used in dry and wet medium milling processes in order to embrittle metal surface layer, and consequently accelerateproduction of granular monocrystals. A secondary effect sought in some wet medium processes is the oxidation of fine grain size, which would stabilize the particle dimension. The particulate system will be characterized before an after milling by X-ray diffractometry, transmission electron microscopy, and compression tests. The P. I. will explore also the use of other inert gases instead of hydrogen, and different milling geometries including planar milling. The Proposal embrittlement approach, if successful, will reduce the time of milling and increase the uniformity of the granular nanocrystalline materials used in manufacturing and advanced materials processing.
