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A highly processable metallic glass: Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10.0Be22.5

We report on the properties of one example of a new family of metallic alloys which exhibit excellent glass forming ability. The critical cooling rate to retain the glassy phase is of the order of 10 K/s or less. Large samples in the form of rods ranging up to 14 mm in diameter have been prepared by casting in silica containers. The undercooled liquid alloy has been studied over a wide range of temperatures between the glass transition temperature and the thermodynamic melting point of the equilibrium crystalline alloy using scanning calorimetry. Crystallization of the material has been studied. Some characteristic properties of the new material are presented. The origins of exceptional glass forming ability of these new alloys are discussed.We report on the properties of one example of a new family of metallic alloys which exhibit excellent glass forming ability. The critical cooling rate to retain the glassy phase is of the order of 10 K/s or less. Large samples in the form of rods ranging up to 14 mm in diameter have been prepared by casting in silica containers. The undercooled liquid alloy has been studied over a wide range of temperatures between the glass transition temperature and the thermodynamic melting point of the equilibrium crystalline alloy using scanning calorimetry. Crystallization of the material has been studied. Some characteristic properties of the new material are presented. The origins of exceptional glass forming ability of these new alloys are discussed.

Decomposition and primary crystallization in undercooled Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10.0Be22.5 melts

Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10.0Be22.5 bulk metallic glasses were prepared by cooling the melt with a rate of about 10 K/s and investigated with respect to their chemical and structural homogeneity by atom probe field ion microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The measurements on these slowly cooled samples reveal that the alloy exhibits phase separation in the undercooled liquid state. Significant composition fluctuations are found in the Be and Zr concentration but not in the Ti, Cu, and Ni concentration. The decomposed microstructure is compared with the microstructure obtained upon primary crystallization, suggesting that the nucleation during primary crystallization of this bulk glass former is triggered by the preceding diffusion controlled decomposition in the undercooled liquid state.

Gold based bulk metallic glass

Gold-based bulk metallic glass alloys based on Au-Cu-Si are introduced. The alloys exhibit a gold content comparable to 18-karat gold. They show very low liquidus temperature, large supercooled liquid region, and good processibility. The maximum casting thickness exceeds 5 mm in the best glassformer. Au49Ag5.5Pd2.3Cu26.9Si16.3 has a liquidus temperature of 644 K, a glass transition temperature of 401 K, and a supercooled liquid region of 58 K. The Vickers hardness of the alloys in this system is similar to 350 Hv, twice that of conventional 18-karat crystalline gold alloys. This combination of properties makes the alloys attractive for many applications including electronic, medical, dental, surface coating, and jewelry.

Time-temperature-transformation diagram of a highly processable metallic glass

Abstract Recently, the present authors found a highly processable metallic glass with a low critical cooling rate of 10 K s −1 or less. This glassy alloy showed several interesting features such as high thermal stability in the supercooled liquid region, and a strong dependence of the crystallization temperature on the heating rate as well as on the environment. In order to process these materials in the supercooled liquid region, time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagrams are very useful. We report the calculation of the TTT diagram as well as its comparison with experimental results. From the constructed TTT diagram, it is concluded that these excellent glass-forming alloys which require very low critical cooling rates also tend to have a strong dependence of the crystallization temperature on the heating rate. It is also proposed that heterogeneous nucleation is an important factor in the crystallization of these alloys.

High-temperature centrifugation: a tool for finding eutectic compositions in multicomponent alloys

A metallic melt of composition Al52.6Cu13.4Ge28Si6 was processed for 2 h in a centrifuge at a temperature of 530 °C and inertial acceleration of 60 000 g (g=gravitational acceleration), and then slowly cooled to room temperature during continuous centrifugation. Primary phases forming in the melt during cooling were sequentially separated from the remaining liquid, changing the composition of the liquid, until it solidified in a ternary eutectic microstructure of composition Al64Cu3Ge33. Presenting scanning electron microscope images, we demonstrate that this method of high-temperature centrifugation is a efficient tool to isolate and identify multiphase eutectic compositions and the sequence of crystallization in multicomponent alloys. The latter is particularly useful for the discovery of new bulk metallic glasses.

Eutectic isolation in Mg-Al-Cu-Li(-Y) alloys by centrifugal processing

Mg56Al30Li7Cu7 and Mg50Al30Y6Li7Cu7 melts were processed for 2 h in a centrifuge at an inertial acceleration of 60 000g and a temperature of 530°C. Subsequent slow cooling across the melting temperature during continuous centrifugation leads to a pronounced stratification, with primary phases forming at the sample ends and binary and ternary eutectic microstructures forming in the middle of the sample, as resolved by scanning electron microscopy. In both cases, the ternary eutectic has the approximate nominal composition Mg58Al33Li6Cu2.5(Y0.5). The implications of the use of high-temperature centrifugation as a new tool for finding deep eutectic compositions, which have the potential to form bulk metallic glasses, are discussed.