Critical Cooling Rate and Thermal Stability in Zr-Ti-Cu-Ni-Be Bulk Metallic Glasses

Abstract

AbstractThe crystallization behavior of a series of alloys in the Zr-Ti-Cu-Ni-Be system is studied. Upon cooling from the molten state with different rates, alloys with compositions ranging along a tie line from (Zr75Ti25)55(Ni45Cu55)22.5Be22.5 (Vit1) to (Zr85Ti15)55(Ni57Cu43)17.5Be27.5 (Vit4) show a continuous increase in the critical cooling rate to suppress crystallization. In contrast, thermal analysis of the same alloys shows that the undercooled liquid region, the temperature difference between the glass transition temperature and the crystallization temperature, is largest for compositions midway between the two endpoints, revealing that glass forming ability does not correlate with thermal stability. The relationship between the change in glass forming ability and thermal stability is discussed with reference to a chemical decomposition process.